What It Takes
by RGAP-48
Summary: -COMPLETE- Nicole runs into a little trouble and convinces Sami and Lucas to help her out. After getting involved in Nicole’s plans, Sami is going to have a hard time continuing to dance around her feelings for Lucas. Slightly AU.
1. The Horniest Couple In America

**What It Takes**

  
  
  
Author's Note: For the sake of this story, Marlena stopped her killing spree after getting rid of Doug. Doug never left any clue behind and let's just say Marlena left Salem and eloped with her letter opener ;) Also, Jan was unsuccessful in killing Victor, so he and Alice are both still alive.  
  
  


Chapter One

  
  
  
When it became apparent to Sami that the loud, frantic knocking on her apartment door was not going to stop, she sighed reluctantly and went over to the door. She unlocked the door and flung it open to reveal a very distressed-looking Nicole, who glared at Sami as soon as the door opened. Nicole stepped inside the apartment without waiting for an invitation and plunked herself down on Sami's couch, propping her feet up on the coffee table.   
  
"It's about time." Nicole huffed, "Do you always make people wait that long before you decide to open the door?"   
  
Sami immediately became defensive, "No. But I thought you were Lucas and usually he just lets himself in with his key if I don't open the door. What are you doing here anyway?"   
  
Nicole avoided Sami's inquisitive gaze by lowering her eyes to the ground. Her forward disposition from only moments before had seemed to completely vanish, "I'm sort of in trouble and I was wondering if you would do something for me."   
  
Sami couldn't resist laughing at the blonde woman's request, "You're kidding, right? What made you think that I would actually do anything to help you?"   
  
Nicole looked up at Sami and the look in her eyes was so pleading and desperate that it caused the amused smile on Sami's face to fade, "I had a feeling you would react like this. But can you just listen to me before you decide not to help me?"   
  
Sami rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch, "Fine. But only because your pain makes me laugh and I want to see what mess you've gotten yourself into this time."   
  
"Fine." Nicole ignored the scorn in Sami's voice and took a deep breath, "Do you know who Lyric Wilson is?"   
  
Sami frowned, "The name is familiar but I can't remember where I've heard it before. Who is it?"   
  
"She's a writer. She's published three novels already and her first one came out last summer." Nicole told her, seeing signs of realization in Sami's eyes.   
  
"That's right. She's that sex novelist who writes that erotic series of novels. Belle's a big fan, she lent me the first book in the series to read." Sami said.   
  
Nicole nodded, "She hadn't expected her books to do so well, she only started writing because she had nothing better to do. But her books have actually become really popular and now they want her to do a four-week publicity tour. She would love to go but she can't."   
  
"And how does this relate to you?" Sami asked, despite the fact she already suspected she knew the answer.   
  
"Lyric Wilson is a pen name. I'm Lyric Wilson, Sami."   
  
Sami snorted, "Riiiiiighhttt. And I'm a playboy bunny. There's no way someone like you could write like that."   
  
Nicole didn't even try to pretend that Sami's words didn't offend her, "I did write them. You don't know what it's like to have a husband who locks you in your room and never lets you have any fun. I just started writing the books because I was bored. Then I decided to try sending them to publishing companies and since the publishers actually liked my work and wanted me to write more, I kept writing. I even did an interview for a magazine over the internet. But in the interview, I lied and said I had a gorgeous boyfriend whose sexual prowess inspired me to write those books. I figured it would help sell more books if I lied because it would totally turn readers off it they found out I was married to someone like Victor."   
  
"You have a point." Sami agreed, "And if you tried to go through with the publicity campaign yourself, then Victor would find out and expose you."   
  
"Exactly." Nicole looked relieved that Sami understood what she was saying, "But I've already received a good amount of money from the profit of the first three novels. I'm ready to publish the fourth book and this publicity campaign is going to help me receive a larger amount of money than I have for the first three books combined. At least, that's what my agent said. And once I have enough money, I can easily divorce Victor without having to worry about being financially secure. Then Brady will realize that I'm not a gold digging whore."   
  
"But you are a gold digging whore." Sami objected and was rewarded with an indignant look from Nicole.   
  
"No, I'm not. And ever since the eighth murder was committed while I was handcuffed to him, Brady has also dropped the idea that I'm the serial killer. It won't be long before I have him in my bed, where he belongs." Nicole decided it was time to move back to the original subject, "So, my agent also wants me to bring this non-existent boyfriend with me on this tour, which I obviously can't do. That's where you come in. You just have to pretend to be Lyric Wilson for four weeks."   
  
"And why would I do you this favour?" Sami questioned her calmly.   
  
"Because I'd be willing to pay you." Nicole answered, "You'll just have to appear on some talk shows and do some book signings. I'd go with you, to make sure you were playing the part of Lyric Wilson right and everything. I'd be like, your coach. I'm willing to let you have thirty percent of whatever I make and I'll only take sixty percent."   
  
"Then who does the other ten percent go to?" Sami asked.   
  
"Your gorgeous, sexy boyfriend, of course." Nicole responded, "He doesn't get as much as we do because he'd basically just be sitting there and looking pretty."   
  
"Yeah, that's kind of a problem. I don't _have_ a gorgeous, sexy boyfriend. Where the hell am I supposed to find one?"   
  
Nicole shifted uncomfortably, "I had a suggestion. And I don't know how to tell you this but I was thinking that maybe you could get-" the sound of the apartment door opening cut Nicole off. Lucas suddenly stepped inside the apartment.   
  
"Sami, have you seen Will's..." he stopped speaking when he noticed Nicole sitting on the couch. Nicole smiled pleasantly at Lucas, crossed her legs and turned back to Sami.   
  
"That's where." Nicole said simply.   
  
Sami began to laugh nervously, "All right, now you're getting out of hand, Nicole."   
  
"Why? It makes perfect sense. And I'm sure Lucas would go along with it." Nicole shot back.   
  
"Go along with what?" Lucas asked curiously, sitting down on the couch next to Sami. Nicole quickly filled him in on her plan while Sami scowled at Nicole the entire time. Sami couldn't believe Nicole was actually getting Lucas involved in this. It wasn't as if her feelings for Lucas weren't already confusing enough. But having him masquerade around as her lover for almost a month was going to make things ten times as worse. She hoped that Lucas would tell Nicole that there was no way he would get involved in her scheme. But to her horror, he looked almost excited at the prospect. After Nicole had finished her explanation, Lucas cleared his throat loudly and looked over at Sami.   
  
"What do you think, Sami?" he asked, "Should we help her out?"   
  
Sami tried frantically to stall for time, "I don't know. What do you want to do?"   
  
"I wouldn't mind doing it." Lucas told her, "It would be kind of fun. Besides, we'd get an all-expenses paid trip to places like Hawaii and Malibu, right, Nicole?"   
  
Nicole shook her head, "Not Hawaii or Malibu, but we do get to go to Florida."   
  
"So, I'll do it if you will." Lucas concluded, looking at Sami to see how she would respond.   
  
Sami was still trying to see if there was a way out of this situation. It wasn't that she didn't want to do it, she was just nervous about the idea of having to act all in love and what-not with Lucas. She didn't know if she was ready for that yet.   
  
"What about Belle? I'm sure she and Shawn would love to go along with your little plan. It would give Belle an excuse to get Shawn to sleep with her." Sami told Nicole.   
  
"They broke up though." Lucas reminded Sami, "Remember, Belle told Shawn that she lied to him about being your mother's alibi? Then your mom left town, causing everyone to become even more suspicious of her and then Shawn dumped Belle. Now that Jan girl is supposedly following Shawn around like a love-sick puppy dog."   
  
"Oh, right. I must have momentarily forgotten that." Sami blushed, realizing just how flustered this was getting her.   
  
"Besides, Belle is a prude." Nicole added, "She'd never be able to pull it off. In fact, besides me, you are the only woman in Salem that could probably pull this off. You and Lucas are such good liars and I mean that in the nicest way possible. You're both really good actors. It won't kill you to pretend that you can't keep your hands off each other for a little less than a month."   
  
_Pretend that we can't keep our hands off each other?_ Sami thought to herself, _I'm not going to have any trouble with that. No acting required on my part. And that's not a good thing._   
  
But she knew that if Lucas and Nicole continued trying to persuade her to agree to doing this, she was going to end up giving in. She had been having the hardest time saying no to Lucas lately, so she knew it would just be a waste of time to try and get out of taking on the role of Lyric Wilson.   
  
"All right." Sami said, somewhat resentfully, "I'll do it."   
  
Nicole grinned at both Lucas and Sami, "Thanks, this means a lot to me. But you two do realize that you'll have to act like the horniest couple in America, don't you?" Nicole inquired watching the two of them so she could gauge their reactions, "Because, after everything I said in that interview about my 'boyfriend', it's absolutely necessary."   
  
Sami smiled confidently, "Well, since you have Lucas, you've already got one-half of that couple. If you had found a woman that is actually turned on by Lucas, it would have been perfect. But I am not turned on by Lucas. Not even the slightest little bit." she added for good measure, since Nicole was one of the last people she wanted her true feelings for Lucas to be revealed to.   
  
_We'll see about that, Sami_, Lucas thought to himself, vowing to use his current situation to his advantage and to somehow make Sami finally see how much they meant to each other. 


	2. Practice Makes Perfect

Chapter Two

  
  
  
Jan tilted her head to one side and eyed Nicole pleadingly, "But Nicole, I _really_ don't want to go."   
  
Nicole glowered at Jan, "Well, I _really_ don't want to have to keep dealing with Victor. But thanks to you chickening out and running away without killing him, I'm still suffering!"   
  
"But he was in the bathtub." Jan wailed, "I was afraid if I went in there, my eyes would start bleeding. Either that or I would be blinded by the excessive grossness of seeing your husband naked."   
  
"I don't have time for this." Nicole glanced at her watch nervously, "Lucas, Sami and the two of us are taking a red-eye flight out of Salem tonight, whether you want to or not. I have a lot to get finished before leaving and I don't want to waste time listening to you bitch at me. You shirked out on your end of the bargain, so you're coming with me."   
  
"But what about Shawn?" Jan reminded her accomplice, "He'll miss me too much if I'm gone. Now that we've found our way back to each other, it's so unbearable for us to be apart."   
  
"You really do need to get a handle on reality, Jan. Can you not tell how sick Shawn is getting of having you follow him around everywhere? He's told you to leave him alone about a million times but you just can't take a hint."   
  
Jan pouted, "It's all for show, silly. He doesn't really want me to go away, he just has to pretend he doesn't love me for a while. It would seem heartless to just be public about his romantic feelings for me right after breaking up with Belle. He has to make it looked like he actually loved Belle and is having a hard time getting over her, even though he isn't."   
  
Nicole decided to try using another strategy, "You know what? You're absolutely right. Shawn does love you but he's just hiding it from everyone. But if you leave Salem, he'll worry about you. Then he'll do everything he can to find you and once he finds you, he'll take you in his arms and confess his undying love for you and make you swear never to leave him again." Nicole winced at the overly enthusiastic voice she had used and knew that even someone like Jan could probably tell when she was being harshly bull-shitted. But instead, Jan's eyes lit up gleefully after hearing Nicole's words.   
  
"You're right, that's exactly what is going to happen." she agreed, "I guess I can go then."   
  
Nicole let out a relieved sigh, "Great. I've already gotten two extra plane tickets for us from my agent. And judging from how stubborn Lucas and Sami are, I'm definitely going to need someone else to help me make sure they don't screw up my publicity campaign. Especially when I show them this." Nicole pulled out a small black jewellery case and opened it to reveal a diamond ring.   
  
"What are you going to do with that?"   
  
Nicole huffed impatiently, disgusted with Jan's stupidity, "I thought if it looked like Lyric and her 'boyfriend' were engaged, it would be better publicity. I found this in the bottom of Brady's underwear drawer and since he was obviously planning on giving it to Chloe, I decided to steal it. It's too pretty for Chloe. But Sami is going to freak. She was already really unenthusiastic about pretended to be Lucas' girlfriend. Can you imagine what she's going to do when I tell her she has to pretend to be his _fianc_?" Nicole chuckled at the prospect.   
  
"What were you doing going through Brady's underwear drawer?" Jan inquired, "That sounds kind of creepy to me."   
  
"It's none of your business why I was doing it." Nicole snapped, feeling her face heat up, "And I wouldn't talk, Ms. 'Shawn-Is-The-Only-Reason-I-Haven't-Slit-My-Wrists-Yet. Come on, we have to go talk to Lucas and Sami now." she added, wanting to get off their previous conversation topic. Not caring who saw her and Jan together anymore, she pulled Jan out of the park and the two of them began the walk to Lucas and Sami's apartment building.   
  
  
Sami stared at the box containing the ring incredulously. She and Lucas had just finished packing up his things and they were now working on getting Sami's bags packed for the trip. Nicole and Jan had came into Sami's apartment a few minutes ago and were now filling Sami and Lucas in on the newest part of their plan.   
  
"But... that's crazy." Sami sputtered finally, "It's bad enough we have to act like we're dating. If we pretend that we're _engaged_, everyone is going to expect us to act even more touchy-feely and crap. No, there's no way I'm going to wear that ring."   
  
Nicole threw Sami an annoyed glance, "Between you and Jan, you're making this way harder than it has to be. You can handle this, Sami, it's only four weeks. Sure, you might have to push yourself to act like you're actually attracted to someone like Lucas," she stopped speaking for a moment and she and Lucas exchanged dirty looks, "But seriously, he isn't that bad-looking. It could be a lot worse. Imagine it was Victor you had to pretend to be sexually involved with."   
  
Jan covered her face with her hands, "Ew, God! My eyes really are going to start bleeding aaaany minute now."   
  
Nicole ignored Jan, "Sami, please stop giving me a hard time. I still have to go home and pack and get all the last minute arrangements made without Victor getting suspicious. The last time I tried running away from him, I got caught and I'll die if that happens again. Just give me a break, you're going to give me a serious migrane."   
  
"Fine, give it to me." Sami reached for the box but Nicole moved it out of her reach. Nicole then handed the ring box to Lucas and grinned at him.   
  
"You need to do this right. You know, to get in character and everything." Lucas took out the ring and tried putting it on Sami's finger but Nicole intervened once more, "That's not how you propose. God, no wonder it takes so much for you to get a girl to marry you. On your knees, dumbass."   
  
Lucas scowled at Nicole but reluctantly knelt down in front of Sami, "This is going to be a long four weeks if you keep being such a bitch." he muttered. Then he turned his attention back to Sami and his eyes softened. Sami watched his adam's apple bob and she took in the way his eyes flickered from her down to the ring and back up to her face. He was obviously nervous. _This is obviously just a _little_ too real to him_, Sami realized, _What am I saying? This is hitting me way too close to home too. I can't believe Nicole is making us do this._   
  
Finally, Lucas spoke, "Samantha Brady, will you marry me?" his voice was strained, low and husky all at the same time. Sami took a deep breath, unable to overlook the undisguised affection in his eyes, a look she was probably mirroring for him in her own eyes. She nodded silently, unable to speak and a tiny, almost imperceptible shiver ran down her spine at the feel of his hand encasing itself around her hand. She watched him place the ring on her finger and her heart rate sped up, _Yeah, this is definitely getting too real for both of us._   
  
Lucas stood up and both he and Sami turned back to see the amused expressions on Jan and Nicole's face.   
  
"See, that wasn't so hard. And judging from that little scene, you two aren't going to have that much trouble pretending you have feelings for each other. All you need to do is... _practice_ with each other a little bit." Nicole smiled devilishly, her true meaning not slipping past Lucas, Sami or Jan.   
  
"Well, thanks for everything but you said you had a lot of work to do. Maybe you should get started on that work and, um, get out." Sami responded, pushing Nicole towards the door. After both women were gone, Sami and Lucas retreated back into Sami's bedroom to finish packing her suitcases. They went five awkward minutes without saying anything before Lucas finally broke the silence.   
  
"She's right, Sami." Sami sat on the edge of her bed and added the last of her clothing to one of her suitcases that was sitting on her bed and closed it.   
  
"Who's right?" she asked innocently. Lucas sat down on the bed next to her and put his hand on her shoulder.   
  
"Nicole." Lucas said, regarding Sami carefully, "A little practice won't hurt either of us. In fact, I think we need to do it. Just to be on the safe side." he was slowly lowering his head closer to hers and Sami felt her mouth go dry with anticipation. His mouth was only about a centimetre away from hers when she regained her composure.   
  
"But I don't want to practice." she protested feebly. Lucas' eyes darkened and his left hand came to rest on her denim-clad thigh.   
  
"Maybe I don't want to either." he retorted, "But if we don't practice, then you _know_ what's going to happen. Nicole is going to decide we need her to coach us and she'll be in our faces the whole trip, telling us how to act. Would you rather have that happen?"   
  
Sami shook her head, "No."   
  
"And I don't want that to happen either. It's just practice, Sami. It's nothing we can't handle. It's not like we're going to be kissing each other for the first time. Only, now we're just doing it to get used to each other."   
  
Sami relented and let him lean down and kiss her. She would never have admitted it but she didn't even _need_ to get used to Lucas. The feel of his lips and hands touching her was now deliciously familiar and never ceased to cause a penetrating bolt of lust to zing through her body. But those other kisses had been spontaneous, unexpected. This was different, it made her feel so much more self-conscious. So, instead of responding to Lucas' kisses, she sat stiffly on the edge of the bed, her arms at her sides, frozen with a combination of panic and desire. Lucas brushed against her lips lightly, reaching up to stroke her cheeks with his hands. He did everything carefully, as if he was afraid to do something wrong and send her fleeing from the room. But after a few more minutes of kissing her, he sighed with frustration and dropped his hands.   
  
"Since when did kissing me become a chore for you?" he asked, his voice tainted slightly with annoyance. Sami flushed and looked away.   
  
"Never." she mumbled before she could stop herself, scooting away from him.   
  
Lucas softened and toyed with a strand of her hair, "Look, you don't have to be nervous. Neither of us should be nervous until we have to act like this in front of a whole bunch of total strangers."   
  
"That's really reassuring, Lucas." Sami said sarcastically.   
  
"Seriously, there's nothing to worry about. Relax, I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. We can stop whenever you want to stop. Just pretend it's like all the other times we kissed."   
  
She nodded and this time, she moved her head forward to meet him halfway. Lucas increased the pressure of his lips with this kiss and she pressed back against his mouth with an equal amount of intensity this time. Her hands traced his taut stomach muscles and she parted her lips a fraction of an inch. Lucas suckled on her top lip for a moment before re-positioning his mouth to tug at her bottom lip tenderly. Sami stifled a gasp when she felt his tongue dart out to outline the contours of her lips. His tongue felt like both sandpaper and velvet at the same time as he continued swiping his tongue along her already swollen lips. His hands massaged her gently, moving down the slope of her shoulder and down her arms.   
  
Lucas used one hand to tilt Sami's head back so that he could ease his tongue between the space between Sami's lips easily. When their tongues touched, Sami let out a small whimper and she immediately felt Lucas pull away. She opened her eyes to meet his brown ones, which radiated passion and the tiniest bit of fear, like he was afraid he had done something wrong.   
  
"Do you want to stop?" he asked, his voice tight and hoarse. Sami snaked her arms behind his neck and shook her head. She pulled him back against the bed until she was laying on her back and his body was covering hers. Kicking the closed suitcase off the bed, she smiled encouragingly at him.   
  
"No, I don't want you to stop." she whispered, capturing his lips again. His tongue met hers for a second time and Sami couldn't resist rolling her own tongue along the underside of it, feeling a wave of satisfaction upon hearing the low groan she received from Lucas in return. She wrapped one leg around his legs and her hands slipped underneath his shirt, her fingertips skimming across the heated skin of his back. She was vaguely aware of the dampness between her legs as Lucas curved one hand around her rib-cage. Her nails began lightly circling his shoulder blades and their bodies continued to move together, like they were magnetically charged. His erection pressed against her hip and Sami couldn't resist arching against the hard plane of Lucas' chest, knowing he would be able to feel her aroused peaks through the thin cotton of their shirts. Suddenly the hand that had been resting on Sami's rib-cage moved up to cup one of her breasts. Sami quickly pushed Lucas off her and pulled herself off of the bed. She smoothed her hair down with her hands, filling her lungs with air.   
  
"I think that's enough... practising for today." she choked out, "We still need to finish packing or we might make Nicole late."   
  
Lucas rolled over on the bed, propped his head up with one hand and smirked at Sami, "Yeah, even if our plane doesn't leave for another six hours, it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"   
  
"Right." Sami turned to leave the room, "I'll be back in a minute." she hurried into her bathroom and shut the door quietly behind her. After splashing cold water on her face and taking several deep, long breaths, her heart rate had almost returned to normal. Almost. She shook her head, trying to clear the hazy expression in her eyes, which was a result of her 'practice' session with Lucas.   
  
She remembered how excited their previous actions had evidently made both her and Lucas and Sami shook her head again, "Just practice, my ass." 


	3. Batman: One Half Of Nicole's Dynamic Duo

Chapter Three

  
  
  
Nicole's back was ramrod stiff against the seat of the plane and her hands clenched the armrests tightly. Her breaths were long and shaky as she unsuccessfully tried to calm herself down. From his seat on the other side of Sami, Lucas looked over at her and smirked.   
  
"Are you afraid of flying, Nicole?" he mocked her.   
  
"No." Nicole answered through clenched teeth, "What I'm afraid of is _not_ flying." Lucas frowned, confused and Jan looked over at him from her sit between Nicole and the window.   
  
"In other words, she's afraid Victor is going to find her and ship her off the plane like last time." Jan explained, "See, she tried running away this other time but she was stupid about it and then Victor found her and brought her back to the mansion."   
  
It was several more minutes before the plane finally took off and Nicole's shoulders slumped in relief, "I knew he wouldn't find me. Stupid old bastard didn't even see it coming." As soon as the plane sped down the runway and raised itself into the sky, Nicole turned her attention to more important things.   
  
"Did you two read the interview yet?" she asked Lucas and Sami, "You need to read that because if they ask you questions and come up with stupid answers that don't match up with what the interview says, they're going to know you're fake."   
  
"Yes, we read the magazine interview." Lucas turned to grin at Sami, "Right after the two of us finished our p-" Sami quickly punched him in the stomach. He flinched and gave her a dirty look. Jan and Nicole both eyed the two of them with interest.   
  
"After you finished your what?" Nicole asked skeptically.   
  
"Our packing." Sami finished for Lucas, her cheeks pomegranate red, "We finished packing our suitcases, then we read the interview."   
  
"Good." Nicole nodded approvingly, even though she was still worried that the two of them wouldn't be able to pull this off, "I wish I could be going on this publicity campaign. Then Brady would really admire me. He's so attracted to Chloe, he must have a thing for artistic women."   
  
Lucas laughed, "I'm sorry, Nicole, but I don't think writing your autobiography counts as being artistic."   
  
Nicole reached across Sami and smacked him on the head, "It is not my autobiography, you jerk."   
  
Sami rolled her eyes, "Actually, I think those books really are you autobiographies. You probably used all the knowledge you obtained from your countless boyfriends and then just wrote about it."   
  
Nicole pressed back against her seat irritably, "Well, even if you're both pricks, I still really appreciate you doing this for me." she told them, giving them a put-on appreciative smile, "You're like, my dynamic duo now."   
  
"Oh, yes, Lucas, we're _quite_ the dynamic duo, aren't we?" Sami returned sarcastically.   
  
Lucas shrugged, "Sure. As long as I get to be batman."   
  
Jan broke into the conversation at that point and eyed Lucas admiringly, "What a lovely little thought, I'm all for it. Mm, I can so picture you in tights right now."   
  
Lucas looked a little bit embarrassed and unsure of how to respond to that, "Well... thanks, I guess." Nicole looked from Jan to Sami and saw that both of them were wearing almost identical hazy expressions that could only mean one thing. Nicole shook her head in disgust and sunk lower into her seat.   
  
"Am I the only one _not_ picturing Lucas dressed as Batman? God, you two are sickening." Nicole saw Jan dart her tongue out to moisten her lips as she looked at Lucas. Nicole bit back a laugh as Jan then winked suggestively at the now very confused man.   
  
"Don't worry about her, she's just sad about not getting to stalk Shawn. She needs a new stalking victim for the next four weeks and from the looks of things, she's set her sights on you." Nicole informed Lucas.   
  
"I have not." Jan hissed angrily, "All I said was that he would look good in tights. And he would. Better than... that other guy who played batman." Jan added for good measure, causing Lucas to continue to squirm uncomfortably. _I bet he's incredibly grateful that he's got Sami and me sitting between himself and Jan_, Nicole thought, then noticed the way Sami had moved a little bit closer to Lucas and was shooting annoyed looks at Jan out of the corner of her eye. _Wow, someone is getting a little bit possessive_, Nicole smiled to herself, _Good for her. If she keeps this up, she and Lucas are going to have no problem with this charade_.   
  
When Jan curled up against the window and closed her eyes, Nicole took her opportunity to speak to Sami, "You _liiike_ him, don't you?" she whispered in Sami's ear. Sami stiffened and shook her head emphatically.   
  
"No, I don't like him at all. Our relationship is completely platonic and I am not even the tiniest bit attracted to him, even if I'm going to have pretend I am for the next little while. Stop getting the wrong idea." Sami retorted.   
  
"Liar, liar, liar." Nicole sang, then lowered her eyes to the blanket that Sami and Lucas were sharing, "Hey, but that's fine. I can help you get him. I'm good with these things."   
  
"I don't want to get him, now shut up. He's going to hear you." Sami murmured, looking over at Lucas to see if he noticed the hushed conversation she was having with Nicole.   
  
Nicole sighed, "Sami, look. You're already underneath that blanket with him. Use that to your advantage. Just keep moving over and then kind of subtlety plop yourself down on his lap. Then, act like your clothes are _really_ bothering you and act like it would just _kill_ you if you had to wear them for a second longer. Then you could ask Lucas to help you take them off and you'd be under the blanket, so no one would have to know anything was going on. Then Lucas would be all, 'Oh, my clothes are bothering me too. Now you can help undress me.' And then it would be incredibly easy to seduce him but I won't go into anymore details because it is Lucas we're talking about here."   
  
"I'm not going to do that. Save your breath." Sami struck back, her face reddening further.   
  
Nicole scowled, "Well, you're stupid then. That's what I would do in your place."   
  
Sami arched her eyebrows warily, "I didn't know you felt that way about Lucas."   
  
"I don't, idiot. I meant, that's what I would do if I was with Brady or someone equally gorgeous." Nicole said, offended that Sami would even suggest she would do something like that with Lucas.   
  
"What are you two talking about?" Lucas finally cut in and Sami jumped at the sound of his voice. She lowered her eyes to the blanket, letting Nicole answer his question. Big mistake.   
  
Nicole smiled innocently at Lucas, "Sami was telling me about how much she would love for you to take her against the wall of one of the air-plane bathrooms." Sami's head shot up and she threw Nicole a horror stricken glance.   
  
"No, I wasn't." Sami said weakly as an impish smile crossed over Lucas' face.   
  
"Okay, Sami, I believe you. But if you do want me to do that, all you have to do is ask." he told her. Sami wrinkled her nose and let out a tiny sniff of indignation.   
  
"I certainly don't want to do that with you." she replied, "In fact, I'm tired, so all I really want to do right now is sleep." Lucas and Nicole watched as she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against her seat. Nicole also closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But only five minutes had passed when Nicole heard the slight rustling of blankets. She cracked one eye open to see Sami and Lucas cocooned underneath the blankets, Lucas' arms wrapped around Sami while Sami's head was nestled against his chest. _I knew it_, Nicole thought triumphantly, _And once Jan and I get through with them, they're going to be setting carpets on fire everywhere they go_. Exhaling with satisfaction, Nicole rolled over and once again, tried to fall asleep. 


	4. Blown Away

Chapter Four

  
  
  
**Author's Note: Sorry for updating so quickly but I'm having so much fun with this story, I can't stop myself from writing more of it. This chapter is all Belle, Rex, Mimi, Shawn, Phillip, Brady, John and Kate but there will be be all Lumi/Jan/Nicole interactions in the next chapter. In the meantime, thanks to all of you who reviewed, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far and keep the feedback coming.**   
  
  
Belle bounced up and down on the couch in her loft excitedly while Rex, Mimi and Phillip watched her with amused smiles. Phillip hadn't seen the blonde woman this happy since before her break-up with Shawn. Phillip, Rex and Mimi were all sitting on the couch with her while Shawn and Brady were standing next to the counter, waiting for the popcorn to finish heating up.   
  
"So, why did you invite us all over here?" Phillip asked as Belle continued bouncing enthusiastically on the couch.   
  
"Because Lyric Wilson is starting her publicity campaign today. I've marked down all her dates on my calender. Today, she's going to do a book signing in South Carolina at Barnes and Noble. But first, they're going to ask her and her boyfriend some questions and stuff. They're going to be live in..." Belle checked the clock, "Three and half a minutes. I can't wait to see what she's like. Lyric is my complete and total idol. I mean, she's talented, young, she's having sex, her books are making her rich and she has a gorgeous boyfriend that adores her. What more could you want?" Belle turned to sneak a quick glance at Shawn. They had agreed to try and act normally around each other for their friends' sakes but it was still awkward for them.   
  
"Speaking of her gorgeous boyfriend, I'm really looking forward to seeing him." Mimi spoke up. Belle had gotten Mimi hooked on Lyric's books as well and both of them had read the magazine article about her, "He's every woman's fantasy man. He just sounds so incredibly sexy. Lyric said that he can bring her to orgasm just by whispering things in her ear. How does he pull that off?"   
  
"I bet he's really ugly." Rex grumbled, his eyes darkening with mild jealousy, "And I bet woman totally exaggerated his sexual prowess. He's probably awful in bed."   
  
"I can't believe you got us all over here to watch something so stupid." Brady added moodily, sitting down on the floor next to the couch with the bowl of popcorn in his hands.   
  
"Look, you're been an ogre ever since Nicole disappeared and I, for one, am sick of it!" Belle told him, "I thought this might cheer you up. Besides, we're all friends and we don't spend enough time together. I figured this would give us a chance to bond."   
  
Rex snorted, "Bond over watching Mimi drool over some random jerk on the television screen? Sounds great. I mean look, he's not even on the screen yet and she's already drooling. Gross."   
  
"Well, I'm leaving." Shawn pulled his jacket on, "I have better things to do."   
  
Belle's eyes flashed angrily, "You _will_ stay here, Shawn Brady! You've been acting grumpy too. I mean, what has gotten into you and my brother?"   
  
"Shawn's upset because Jan isn't around to follow him everywhere like he's her hero." Phillip announced, then held up his hands defensively when Brady, Mimi and Belle all glared at him, "Hey, I'm just the messenger. I heard it from Shawn."   
  
Mimi had been trying to get Shawn and Belle back together ever since the break-up and decided it was time to do damage control, "Shawn, please stay. Just for a little while."   
  
Shawn reluctantly sat down next to Brady. Shawn, Brady, Rex and Phillip all began talking amongst themselves, ignoring the television while Mimi and Belle stared intently at the screen.   
  
A man that had introduced himself as the manager of the bookstore smiled warmly at the crowd, "And now, let's have a round of applause for Lyric Wilson." the applause was deafening as a blonde woman and a dark-haired man walked out to face the crowd. As they seated themselves at a table in front of the store, Belle tilted her head thoughtfully.   
  
"They look kind of familiar." Belle mused. Mimi murmured in agreement. When the camera finally zoomed in on the couple's faces, Mimi and Belle both gasped in unison. Rex, Shawn, Phillip and Brady were all completely ignoring the television set now so they didn't react.   
  
"You guys! Shawn, Shawn, Shawn, Shawn, Shawn!" Belle repeated excitedly to get her ex-boyfriend's attention. Shawn turned to look at the excited expressions on the girl's faces and let out an irritated sigh.   
  
"Let me guess. We really need to cut back on both of your sugar intakes?"   
  
"Don't even think about it. I would die without sugar, you evil bastard!" Mimi pointed at the screen, "Look! It's Lucas and Sami!"   
  
All eyes were on the screen now. Lucas and Sami greeted the manager of the bookstore, who was obviously running things, "So, Lyric Wilson is your pen name, right?" the manager asked after the greetings were finished, "And your real name is Samantha Brady?"   
  
"Sami Brady." Sami confirmed, "And this," she reached over to squeeze Lucas' hand, "Is my fiancé, Lucas Roberts."   
  
"Oh my fucking God!" Phillip exclaimed, shaking his head in amazement, "My mom is going to die."   
  
Mimi's eyes were wide with shock, "So, _Lucas_ has been my fantasy man ever since I read that article? That's really scary. But I do know for a fact that there are certain parts of his anatomy that are definitely fantasy-worthy." she swooned, then noticed the look on Rex's face, "Of course, it obviously runs in the family."   
  
Belle reached over and swiped at the phone, "I have to call my dad. This is too freaky." Belle decided to try her father's cell phone first and quickly began dialling his number.   
  
  
John was deep in conversation with Kate in his office at Basic Black when his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, "Hello?"   
  
"Daddy? It's Belle." the voice on the other line responded.   
  
"Hey, sweetheart. What's up?" he asked.   
  
"Um, not a lot." Belle said, her voice faintly sarcastic, "It just turns out that Sami's a famous writer and that's she engaged to Lucas."   
  
"Are you sure?" John checked, glancing at Kate warily. Kate saw the look on his face and she eyed him expectantly.   
  
"I'm positive. Is there a TV around where you are? Turn it to channel thirteen, both of them are on right now."   
  
"Sure." John went over to the television set and flicked it on. Motioning Kate over, he turned the television to the right station, just in time to see Lucas place a small kiss on Sami's cheek. John's eyes dropped to the hand Sami had interlocked with Lucas', which sported a large diamond engagement ring. Kate must have taken all of this in at the same time as John because she immediately began shrieking loudly. John ended his conversation with Belle and did everything he could to calm Kate down but it was a lost cause.   
  
"Why is this happening?" Kate wailed, "This is some kind of joke, it can't be real. My son would not hide something like this from me." she paced around the office during a commercial break, "John, who would be cruel enough to mess with my mind like this?"   
  
"I don't think anyone is messing with your mind, Kate." John pushed her into one of the chairs in his office, "Let's just watch for a minute and see what's going on. And please stop hyperventilating."   
  
The commercial break ended and Lucas and Sami came back on the screen. After they finished signing some copies of books for several more people, the man standing next to Lucas and Sami's table cleared his throat loudly.   
  
"Why don't the two of you call on some of your fans to ask you some questions?" the man suggested and both Sami and Lucas smiled up at him, although John thought he noticed Sami eyeing the array of waving hands and little bit guardedly. Finally, Sami chose a young woman out of the crowd to ask a question.   
  
The woman batted her eyelashes at Lucas before speaking, "Well, I'm sure all of us would really like to know the truth about Lucas. Is you fiancé really everything you made him out to be? Is he really that amazing in bed?"   
  
"Like she would know!" Kate fumed, "Sami had better choose not to answer that question if she knows what's good for her."   
  
Sami looked at Lucas through lowered lashes before replying, "He's better. I can't even use words to describe how incredible and erotic he is in bed. Before him, I didn't think it was possible to have such mind-blowing sex. But he proved me wrong." she gazed adoringly up at Lucas. The camera then zoomed in on Sami's hand, which was resting on Lucas' thigh.   
  
Kate gasped indignantly, "Get your hand off my son right now!" she screamed at the television set, "Don't touch him there!" almost as if Sami had heard Kate's words and wanted to do the exact opposite of what Kate wanted, Sami's hand gave Lucas' thigh a gentle squeeze. John winced and looked over at Kate. She looked almost like a very angry cartoon character, her eyes were bugging out of their sockets and her face was redder than John had ever seen it. He could almost see steam shooting out of her ears. Tentatively, John started towards the television set.   
  
"Maybe, I should turn it off." he suggested.   
  
"No!" Kate snapped, glaring at the screen, "Lucas will fix this. He'll make everything better and clear everything up. He's going to tell everyone there that he isn't engaged to Sami and that this is some stupid hoax. How could he be engaged to Sami? That doesn't even make sense."   
  
Another woman was called on to ask a question, "So, he's your muse? Does that mean whenever you get writer's block, he... uses his amazing talents to... make it go away?" a few people snickered but Sami didn't hesitate. She nodded in agreement.   
  
"Absolutely. In fact, sometimes I worry that I work him too hard. I'm a real slave driver."   
  
Lucas leaned over and began nibbling her earlobe, "You could never work me too hard, baby. I'd always be ready for you."   
  
Kate was practically in tears now, "Why is this happening to me? Have I died and gone to hell?"   
  
"Do you and Lucas do all the things that the characters in your books do?" one woman asked, "Like, the character, Jade, from your first book really liked wearing Keith's underwear. Do you also enjoy wearing Lucas' underwear?" the woman looked like she was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Other people had less self-control than her and were already laughing openly.   
  
Sami only hesitated for a split second, "Yes, I do it all the time. It makes me feel closer to him."   
  
"Are you wearing them right now?" the woman continued.   
  
"She had better not be!" Kate roared.   
  
There was no hesitation this time, "Of course."   
  
One of the few males in the crowd called out, "Can we see?"   
  
Sami began blushing and stammered nervously. Finally, Lucas spoke up. Wrapping one arm around Sami's shoulder, he gave her a possessive squeeze, "Whether it's her underwear or mine, the only one who gets to see her in them is me."   
  
John didn't miss the grateful smile Sami gave Lucas, then he watched as Lucas eyelids drooped as he pressed his mouth against Sami's tenderly. Kate fell off her chair.   
  
"That tramp!" she fumed, ripping at her hair in agitation, "What has she done to my son?"   
  
"Kate, if you don't calm down, I'm going to turn it off." John responded. Kate sat back down in her chair and grumbled quietly to herself. She and John continued watching as Lucas and Sami continued answering questions and signing books. Finally, the hour ended and Lucas and Sami were followed out of the bookstore by the camera men and several extra-enthusiastic fans. One of the fans got between Lucas, Sami and the limo.   
  
"Lucas, I love you! Can you sign my chest?" she handed him a pen and lowered her already low-cut shirt, exposing almost everything to Lucas, Sami and everyone watching channel sixteen at that moment.   
  
Before Lucas even had a chance to react, Sami rested her hands on his shoulder and pressed her forehead to the side of his head for a minute, "The only chest Lucas is interested in tattooing anything on is mine. Only, when he tattoos things there, it's usually not his signature, if you know what I mean." she winked at the cameras, then pushed past the girl and managed to get herself and Lucas into the limo without further trouble.   
  
Kate was storming around the office again, shaking her head angrily, "That little bitch will not do this to me and Lucas. I'm going to stop her. I just need to figure out how." 


	5. Groupies

Chapter Five

  
  
  
Sami flipped her hair over her shoulder and stepped out of the bathroom, followed by a cloud of steam. Even though she had already finished showering and dressing, Lucas was still in a deep sleep, judging from his loud snoring. Sami made her way over to his side of the bed, preparing to wake him up. The cruise ship that she, Nicole, Jan and Lucas were taking to Florida would be leaving in several hours and she knew if Lucas didn't start getting ready soon, Nicole would start breathing down their necks to get ready faster.   
  
Sami held out her hand to touch his arm when he rolled over, the thin sheet that was draped loosely over him sliding even lower. Sami couldn't resist admiring the muscular definition of his arms and his chest before her eyes continued their uncontrollable descent. Her eyes widened when they reached the top of the sheet, that was low enough to reveal where Lucas' tan line ended. It finally sunk in that Lucas Roberts was naked underneath that blanket. And she had been sharing the same bed with him. She could feel blood beginning to rush into her face at an alarming rate. He had went to bed with the boxers on but thanks to the humid atmosphere of the room, he must have kicked them off sometime during the night. Sure enough, she looked down at the floor and her eyes came to rest on the boxers he had worn to bed.   
  
And now her eyes had moved back up to Lucas' temptingly naked body. Her eyes lingered on the bulge underneath the sheet for a moment, _That can't be anywhere near as big as it looks_, she told herself, now wishing the sheet would slip down a little bit more. All intentions of waking him up had completely fled from her mind as she stared hard at the white sheet, willing it to slide down. Almost as if Lucas had somehow read her thoughts, he shifted positions again, causing the sheet to fall away and reveal everything. Sami took a deep breath, staring in awe at him. Now that he was fully exposed, she realized that every inch of his body was just as magnificent as she had pictured it being.   
  
Suddenly, he groaned in his sleep and Sami jumped, worried that he was going to wake up and catch her staring at him like he was a carcass in a butcher shop. But instead of opening his eyes, he just raised one arm to scratch his stomach. She then watched as his hand slid lower and as he began to stroke himself. Her chest tightened as she noticed the small, contented smile that grazed his lips as his hand continued sliding up and down his length. And Sami had thought it was big before. But with each stroke of his hand, it seemed to grow another inch. Her throat felt dry and she bit her lip uncertainly. She felt like a complete slut for standing there and watching him touch himself like that while he had no idea she was there but she couldn't seem to pull her eyes away.   
  
He groaned again, "Sami." he mumbled in a low voice and Sami felt a sudden dampness pool between her legs. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, suddenly not sure whether or not Lucas was really asleep. But he wouldn't be putting on this show just for her benefit- would he? Sure, he did enjoy giving her a hard time but he wasn't that much of an exhibitionist.   
  
Gritting her teeth, she glared down at him, "If you are doing this to mess with my head, you are so going to pay." she whispered. She tried to see if he reacted to her words but it didn't look like it. Instead, he continued stroking himself, the smile not leaving his face. Sami own hands itch to replace that hand with one of her own but she clenched both fists tightly, willing herself to resist the temptation.   
  
A loud crack outside the hotel window distracted Sami. She turned around to look out the window, which had been left open due to the temperature in the room. She noticed a girl perched on a tree branch directly outside the window, a pair of binoculars around her neck. She was clutching the tree branch she was sitting on tightly but that didn't stop it from continuing to crack under her weight. Sami watched as the tree branch finally gave away and the girl fell out of the tree, letting out a loud scream as she fell. Sami hurried over to the window to look outside.   
  
"Shit." she muttered, then turned around to see that the scream must have woken Lucas up. He was now sitting up, with the sheet pulled over his waist. _It's a little late for that_, Sami thought wryly.   
  
"Some... girl fell out of the tree." Sami explained, "I'm going to go see if she's okay."   
  
Sami took the elevator down to the first floor of the hotel and raced outside. Despite the fact that it was still early morning, several people had already gathered around the girl. Sami pushed through the small crowd to look curiously at the man bent over the girl.   
  
"Is she going to be okay?" someone in the crowd asked. The man looked up at them grimly.   
  
"I think her leg's broken but other than that, I think she should be okay for the most part. She's very lucky she didn't take any major injuries to her head." he looked up at the tree, "What were you doing up there, anyways?"   
  
"That's what I'd like to know." Sami crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the redheaded girl inquisitively.   
  
The girl looked up at Sami tearfully, "My friends and me followed you and your boyfriend back to the hotel and we found out what hotel room you were staying in. We noticed that there was a tree right outside your window so they dared me to climb it and see if I could see Lucas." she smiled through her tears, "And boy, did I ever see him."   
  
"You little-" before Sami could finish the sentence, someone placed their hand over her mouth. She whirled around to see Lucas standing behind her. Noticing his tousled appearance, she knew he must have gotten dressed in record time and then sprinted outside to catch up with her. Now he was looking down at the girl, frowning at her. The girl noticed the look on his face and covered her face with her hands.   
  
"I'm sorry! Don't kill me!" she said weakly. Sami shook her head in disgust, listening to the approaching sound of sirens.   
  
  
Nicole and Jan stepped into the hospital room and sighed in relief when they saw Lucas and Sami, "What do you think you're doing? Do you know how long it took us to track you two down?" Nicole stopped speaking to take note of the police officer and the girl sitting in the hospital bed, her right leg in a cast, "Who the hell are you?" Nicole asked.   
  
"Jackie." the girl replied, her faces flushed and her eyes wide as she looked at Nicole and Jan.   
  
The police officer ignored the sudden entrance of Jan and Nicole and addressed Lucas and Sami, "Are you sure you don't want to press charges, Mr. Roberts?"   
  
When Lucas nodded, Jan spoke up, "Press charges for what?"   
  
Sami flashed Jackie a dirty look, "Well, _she_ decided she wanted to play the Peeping Tom game with _my_ fiancé. Then she fell out of the tree she had been sitting in."   
  
"I said I didn't want to press charges." Lucas fixed his eyes on Jackie, "I think breaking her leg is punishment enough. But it better not happen again." he added.   
  
Nicole looked at Lucas like he was insane, "Are you really that stupid, Lucas? If you don't press charges against her, then you won't want to press charges the next time this happens either. You have to make an example of her or you're going to have weirdos like her hiding out in your closets in your hotel rooms and that would be very bad publicity."   
  
Sami interrupted Nicole, "It's getting late. We don't have time, we're going to end up missing the boat. But if you ever try this again, I will deal with you myself." Sami promised Jackie, then noticed the expression on the police officer's face, "In a completely legal way, of course. But I just hate the idea of so many other woman fawning all over my Lucas. Although, who could blame them?" she cooed, "My Lucas is damn sexy." both Lucas and the police officer grinned at Sami.   
  
"That's right, I almost forget to ask." the police officer pulled out a pen and paper, "Would you mind giving me your autographs? My wife- she was at the book signing yesterday but didn't get a chance to get her book signed. If she knew I let you two go without getting your autographs for her, she'd kill me."   
  
After signing their autographs, Lucas and Sami left the hospital. Nicole and Jan followed behind them, laughing hysterically.   
  
"Can't- breathe." Nicole began hiccuping, "I can't believe you already have groupies."   
  
Jan giggled, "I think I'm going to steal all your underwear and try to sell it on Ebay." Jan's eyes lit up, "No, wait! I can rig a video camera in the shower you use on the cruise ship and then I can sell the videotape on the internet. I have great experience with that. Of course, Lucas-porn would make me lots more money than Chloe-porn ever could. I bet there's entire websites filled with people who would kill to get a tape of you in the shower, Lucas."   
  
Nicole hiccuped again, "Ew. But, hey, Sami, you could always protect Lucas from Jan and take showers with Lucas. Because that would, um, make Jan not do it. I don't know why that would detour her. But it would."   
  
"That's always a possibility." Lucas smirked at Sami. He had gotten used to ignoring Jan by now, "Come on, Sami, someone has to protect me from Jan and her evil video cameras. And who would do a better job than my beautiful fiancé?" he raised Sami's hand to his lips and kissed the skin just above her ring.   
  
"I don't think so." Sami gave him a dirty look, "I enjoy taking my showers alone."   
  
"Sure you do." Nicole was about to continue but Sami cut her off by reminding her that they needed to go back to the hotel and get their things before they missed the boat. Nicole then began hurrying back towards the hotel, her attempts to taunt Sami forgotten. Sami sighed with relief, glad that they would be out of South Carolina in about an hour, leaving behind Jackie and her stalker friends. Although Sami knew she didn't need to worry about them. She remembered what had taken place earlier that morning and felt her cheeks heat up. She stole a quick glance at Lucas, then flushed a deeper shade of red and looked away. _God, is it ever going to be a long four weeks_, she realized as she, Nicole, Jan and Lucas continued heading back towards the hotel. 


	6. Frozen

Chapter Six

  
  
  
"Wow, I feel really sick." Jan moaned, holding one hand against her forehead, "My head feels all numb and tingly. It's all your fault, Nicole. Why did you make us get popsicles? I think the popsicles are out to get me."   
  
Nicole watched Jan with a deprecating look on her face, "No, Jan, it's your fault. Anyone who eats a popsicle in under two minutes is going to feel sick afterwards." Nicole turned to Sami with the same disapproving look on her face, "You two need to learn how to eat popsicles properly. You can lick them, you can suck them, you can even nibble them if that's your forte but you do not _bite_ popsicles."   
  
"I only bit the popsicle once." Sami shot back defensively, "And that was only so I could suck the cream out of the middle. Besides, you have no business telling me how to eat popsicles when you eat the gross kind! The only kind that actually tastes good is the kind with cream in the middle."   
  
"Hm, I'm not sure if I want to know what you three are talking about." Lucas spoke up, sitting down on the edge of Sami's lounge chair. His eyes moved up the length of her slender legs, then passed over her taut stomach before stalling at her chest. Hey, he _was_ human and that white bikini top was serious wet dream material. For a moment, he began picturing himself taking Sami back to their room on the cruise ship, kissing her senseless and removing her bathing suit with his teeth. Then, Sami's half-amused, half-annoyed voice cut into his incredibly vivid fantasy.   
  
"Lucas, my face is up _here_." she reminded him, causing him to pull his eyes up to watch her continue to lick the popsicle. Her pink tongue darted out to lap up an excess bit of juice off the popsicle and he felt his own mouth begin to water. He would do anything to be in that popsicle's place at that moment. Trying to push those thoughts aside, he looked at her apologetically.   
  
"Sorry." he muttered, trying to keep his thoughts G-rated. But no matter how hard he tried, his thoughts kept drifting back to his X-rated fantasies about himself and Sami.   
  
Nicole watched the exchange and almost felt sorry for Lucas. She decided it was time to change the subject, "Oh, Lucas, I almost forgot to tell you. Your mom called you on your cell phone the other day but you were gone, so I answered it."   
  
"You what?" Lucas immediately forgot about his fantasies, "What did she say?"   
  
"Well, she asked where you were and I told her you were in the middle of something, literally, involving Sami. She got pretty mad and demanded to know who I was. I told her I was your publicist, Olga Steinhilber, and there was a lot of static so I don't think she recognized my voice. Then she started screaming at me and I told her I'd address her concerns when I had the time. I told her not to call me and that I'd call her and then I hung up." Nicole grinned at Sami, "It might have just been the static but if I'm not mistaken, I think she said you acted like a dog in heat around Lucas."   
  
"How dare she?" Sami fumed angrily, "I never acted like that, she is such a lying bitch!"   
  
"But isn't that what you wanted to do?" Jan spoke up, "You wanted people to think you were crazy about Lucas and obviously you've succeeded. You should be happy."   
  
"They haven't done a good enough job of it yet." Nicole countered, "They were totally luke-warm and boring at that book signing back in South Carolina. If you two don't crank up the heat, I'm going to have to take drastic measures. And if that means ramming aphrodisiacs down your throats, then I _will_ do it."   
  
"What do you want? Do you want us to have wild monkey sex on live television or something? Or maybe we should just have a big naked party." Lucas suggested sarcastically.   
  
"You don't need to go that far." Nicole responded, "Just act... hornier. It isn't hard, cop more feels, steal some more kisses, don't take your hands off each other at all. Just act like you're dying to tear off each other's clothes right then and there."   
  
"I'll try my best." Lucas responded, turning to Sami, "What about you, Sami? Think you can handle it?"   
  
Sami just stared at him, encircling the popsicle in her mouth, not speaking.   
  
Nicole rolled her eyes, "That's what I thought. Lucas is more than ready to do this but Sami isn't going to cooperate. Because Sami is a freeze."   
  
Sami's eyes widened, "What did you just call me?"   
  
"A freeze." Nicole repeated, "You're a total freeze. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were afraid of Lucas. Or at least, afraid of letting yourself go too far with him. But you keep acting like you belong to a nunnery, Sami. You're going to ruin my publicity campaign and someone else is going to end up taking Lucas from you. If it's not some tree-climbing stalker, it's going to be some other woman. Even Jan could be competition if you don't watch you back."   
  
"Why Jan?" Lucas interjected, looking at the brunette cautiously.   
  
Before Jan could protest, Nicole rushed ahead, "She has a crush on you. Just before you came back from the bathroom, she was talking about how incredibly hot you looked in those swimming trunks."   
  
"Nicole!" Jan yelped, "I can't believe you!" she then turned to Lucas, "Don't worry, it's completely harmless. I'm still madly in love with Shawn, I just need a little distraction while I'm here. I'm not going to tie you up and drag you back to my overgrown hamster cage or anything."   
  
"Let's hope not." Lucas responded, moving a little bit farther away from Jan's lounge chair.   
  
"Yeah, well, I'm not a freeze." Sami spoke up, glaring at Nicole, "But then again, compared to you, most people would be a considered a freeze, wouldn't they, Ms. Peanut-Butter-Legs. You'd spread for anyone, wouldn't you?"   
  
Nicole didn't seem insulted at all by her comment, "Whatever you say, Sami. But you can't change the truth and the truth is, you are as frozen as that popsicle."   
  
"I am not." Sami retorted hotly, "You are completely wrong about me and I can prove it."   
  
Nicole raised her eyebrows, "How?"   
  
Lucas spoke up, "I know you're not a freeze, Sami. Why don't you let me help you prove to Nicole how wrong she is? I'd be glad to help you out." he smiled slyly at her. Sami smiled back at him, both of them on the same line of thought. Sami swung her legs off the lounge chair so she was sitting next to him.   
  
"Thanks, I really appreciate this." she murmured. Throwing a defiant look at Nicole, she let Lucas use his thumb to turn her head towards him. His first touch was a fleeting brush with his lips. His lips adored her gently, cupping her cheeks in his hands, waiting to see if she would pull away. He didn't know if she really wanted to do this right here, even if Nicole had gotten her pretty imitated. He was careful at first, then his eyes flickered shut as Sami fastened her mouth to his bottom lip, caressing it with her tongue and nipping lightly at it with her teeth. The kiss deepened as Sami pushed her hips against him boldly, their bodies melding together. Lucas dropped one hand to graze the silky, soft flesh of one of her legs while Sami's tongue plunged recklessly into the depths of his mouth.   
  
After kissing for several minutes, Sami pulled away. Lucas thought she had proved her point so he opened his mouth to say something to Nicole. But before saying anything, he watched Sami take the last bite of her quickly-melting popsicle. Their mouths collided again and she transferred the popsicle into his mouth. The remains of the popsicle began melting in his mouth as her tongue blended with his. The juice left from the popsicle felt incredibly cool in comparison to the heat that the kisses he had exchanged with Sami had ignited.   
  
"I take it back, I take it back!" Nicole shrieked, flinging the rest of her popsicle at them. Lucas and Sami pulled apart just in time for the popsicle to hit Lucas square in the chest, "You're not a freeze, just _please_ stop it right now."   
  
Sami turned to smile wickedly at Nicole, "Look, now you've made Lucas all sticky. I guess I'll have to clean him up." she lowered her head to his chest and Lucas exhaled sharply when she began licking the juice off of his chest in slow, languid strokes.   
  
"Sami!" Nicole squeezed her eyes shut, "I took it back already, you don't need to prove your point anymore. Ew, I seriously don't want to look at you two doing that anymore."   
  
"I thought this is how you wanted us to act, Nicole." Lucas retorted.   
  
"Not for my benefit. I only want you all over each other when you're trying to impress my fans. Or, you could always act like that in private if that's what you want." Nicole stood up, "I think I'm going for a swim now." she walked across the deck of the cruise ship and then dived into the swimming pool. Jan stared at Lucas and Sami in silence for a few seconds.   
  
"And suddenly, I'm really craving another popsicle. Of course, I'll eat this one a lot slower. Because that clearly has definite advantages." she winked at Sami before leaving the Lucas and Sami alone. Sami shifted away from Lucas nervously.   
  
"I'm sorry about making you do that." she muttered, "Nicole was just really pissing me off and I wanted to prove her wrong."   
  
"You didn't make me do anything." Lucas assured her, "And I didn't mind a bit. If you ever want to... prove Nicole wrong or practice ever again, I'll be more than willing."   
  
A small smile curved the corners of her lips and her eyes glittered with an emotion Lucas couldn't quite distinguish. This was one of those rare moments when he had no idea what was going through her mind.   
  
"Thanks, Lucas but I don't think that's going to happen." she responded quickly, then stood up, "You know, Nicole had a good idea when she decided to go jump in the pool. I think I'll join her."   
  
"What's the matter, Sami? Did I get you too hot or something?" Lucas asked, smirking at her.   
  
Sami scoffed, "Don't flatter yourself." turning her back to him, she began walking over to the pool, leaving Lucas staring after her. 


	7. Sun Stroke

Chapter Seven

  
  
  
**Author's Note: There's some sexual content in this chapter, so if this bothers you, I'll get the next clean (well, sort of clean, lol) chapter up as soon as I can.**  
  
  
"Oh, come on." Lucas easily intercepted Sami's attempt to score a basket and began dribbling the basket-ball back up to the other side of the court, "You're not even trying, are you?"   
  
Sami jogged lightly to catch up with Lucas, wiping the layer of sweat covering her forehead away with one hand. The rays from the hot Florida sun beat down on Sami, causing her skin to heat up to an almost unbearable level. She couldn't understand why Lucas would want to be playing basketball on the outdoor basketball court at the hotel instead of doing something enjoyable that wasn't painful. He was right, he had to be a masochist, which meant she was one too for actually agreeing to play with him. She didn't even like basketball. Besides, the sight of Lucas in that pair of jogging shorts with his tanned, sweaty chest bared was driving all thoughts related to basketball right out of her mind. She was also almost positive that the sun wasn't the only thing causing her temperature to raise.   
  
She positioned herself in front of Lucas and made a half-hearted swipe at the ball, "Are you sure you don't want to do something else?"   
  
Lucas grinned, bouncing the ball further away from Sami's reach, "What's wrong? Are you upset that I'm winning?"   
  
"No." Sami grumbled, making another attempt to take the ball away from him.   
  
"I think you are." Lucas mocked her, "I know how much you hate to lose _anything_. Maybe you're just jealous because I got the moves and you don't."   
  
"Um, no, not really." Sami shot back, her eyes leaving the ball and focussing on his chest. She was almost mesmerized, watching as a tiny drop of sweat trickled down his stomach and disappeared into the material of his shorts. His entire chest was covered in a light sheen of sweat and she was surprised by the sudden urge she had to run her palms down the moist heated flesh.   
  
"Sami, my face is up _here_." Lucas told her, throwing the words she had used on him on the cruise ship back in her face. Sami scowled petulantly.   
  
"I'm not supposed to be looking at your face. I'm supposed to be getting the ball away. Which is exactly what I am going to do." before Lucas could react, she dove in and snatched the ball away from him. Laughing, she began dribbling back over to the other basket. Lucas hurried after her. He came up behind her and reached around to try and grab the ball. Sami stopped dribbling and held the ball tightly, backing up until her back was pressed firmly against his chest.   
  
"That's not how you play basketball." Lucas informed her, "You can't hold the ball like that."   
  
Still laughing, Sami used her elbows to push his arms away from the ball, "If it keeps the ball away from you, then I don't care."   
  
"Fine, if you're going to cheat, then I will too." Lucas replied. He stopped trying to take the ball away from her and poked her in the ribs. She shrieked and almost dropped the ball.   
  
"Lucas, don't! You know I'm ticklish."   
  
"Yes, I do know that, don't I?" Lucas proceeded to tickle her ribs until the ball fell out of her hands. Instead of running after it, Lucas stopped tickling her and his hands rested lightly on her waist. Sami stopped laughing when his hands slipped underneath the back of her shirt, his hands hot against her back, as if there was fire beneath the surface of his skin. His hands inched higher, smoothing along her skin until he reached the clasp to her bra.   
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Sami demanded, trying to sound offended but her voice came out breathless and suggestive instead. She felt his fingers fumble with the clasp until it finally broke apart. He didn't respond, instead his hands slid around to her front of her body, slipping underneath the unfastened bra to cup her breasts.   
  
"Lucas! Someone could walk out here and see us at any minute." she hissed, then bit her lip to keep from moaning as his hands ran along the under swells of her breasts, stroking her slowly and deliberately. His hands felt like two fiery brands against her already overheated skin and she almost collapsed from the heat his touch was generating.   
  
"So? I think the chances of getting caught makes this so much more thrilling. Don't you?" he whispered, shooting hot breath against her ear.   
  
"No, it would humiliating for anyone to see me out here with you like this." Sami bit back a whimper when his fingertips brushed against her erect nipples, "Lucas! Stop!"   
  
"Stop what?" he asked innocently, the pads of his thumbs trailing down the curves of her breasts.   
  
"That." she responded weakly, her legs shaking uncontrollably. Lucas seemed to realize how unbalanced she was and tightened the pressure of his arms a tiny bit so she wouldn't fall.   
  
"Why?" anyone else would have thought he was genuinely confused but Sami knew him better than that and knew he was purposely making this harder for her.   
  
"Because I don't like it." Sami answered, still not making a move to squirm away from him.   
  
"Really?" Lucas' said blankly, leaning down to press a kiss into her neck. His mouth continued moving along her neck, sucking gently on the flushed skin. Finally, he spoke again, "I don't think that's true. I know how you act when you don't like something. You wouldn't still be standing here if you didn't like it. You like it when I kiss you, when I touch you, don't you?"   
  
Her breathing was low and ragged but she didn't answer him. Lucas pressed his face against her hair, drawing the sweet, faintly-perfumed smell into his lungs, "Sami, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost control like that. But it's so hard to stop myself from touching you sometimes because you're so beautiful."   
  
_You are so beautiful_, the words he had said to her that night in the cave rang in her ears. His hands slipped off of her body and she whirled around to meet the sincere, affectionate look in his chocolate brown eyes. Threading her fingers through his thick hair, she smiled up at him.   
  
"I guess I can't keep denying it for much longer. I do like it when you kiss me and when you touch me. And I don't want you to stop. But I want to finish this in our hotel room, where we can lose complete control." her left hand slid along the sweat-slicked skin of his chest to the bulge in his shorts. She cupped him gently, causing him to groan.   
  
"Sami..." his voice trailed off and he dropped his mouth onto hers again in a searing kiss. To Sami, it felt like he was devouring her completely with his searching kiss but at the same time it felt like he was giving himself completely to her, filling her with his desire and affection for her. Finally he broke away from her and grinned, "I just hope I can get you back up to our hotel room without losing anymore control than I already have." he mumbled, biting her earlobe. Sami smirked at him and pushed her body closer to his, bringing her head up to taste him again.   
  
"Oh my God, you killed her!" Sami's eyes flew open at the sound of Jan's voice. She raised her head to see Lucas sitting next to her on the bed in their hotel room, his back turned to her as he looked at Jan and Nicole.   
  
"I did not." Lucas retorted, "We were outside playing basketball and then she fainted. I think she got sun stroke, it was pretty hot out there. And no, Nicole, not like that. God, is that all you ever think about?"   
  
Sami shifted on the bed, causing Lucas to turn back around to look at her, "How are you feeling?" he asked softly, using his hand to apply more pressure to the damp cloth on her forehead. Sami looked at him questioningly, trying to ignore the dull throbbing in her head and the waves of nausea washing over her.   
  
"I'm fine, just a little dizzy and sick to my stomach." she lowered her voice so Nicole and Jan couldn't her what she was saying, "Lucas, what... happened right before I passed out?"   
  
Lucas frowned, "Right after I started tickling you, you just dropped the ball and you blacked out. I was really worried about you."   
  
Sami felt her already hot face growing hotter when she remembered what had obviously been nothing more than a fantasy. She couldn't believe it hadn't happened, it had all been so vivid- his touch, the feel of his skin, of his lips joining with hers. Forgetting Jan and Nicole were in the room, one hand reached up to brush his chair, before sliding down his face and finally stopping on his chest. Lucas looked at her in confusion while she swallowed hard, realizing how dry her throat was.   
  
"Water." she croaked. Lucas immediately got off the bed and went to go get her a glass of water. Nicole stared at Sami with a mixture of concern and annoyance.   
  
"You look like hell." Nicole said bluntly, "You better not get sick on me, you still have another three weeks of appearances to make with Lucas. I'm glad you finished the book signing at that book store yesterday, it would have sucked for you to go in looking like this."   
  
Sami felt rage surge through her at Nicole's words. Nicole had no right to talk to her like that, not after what Nicole was putting her through. She had agreed to go on this publicity campaign to help Nicole, even though she knew it was going to make fighting her feelings for Lucas harder to do. And she blamed Nicole for all of her problems. It was Nicole's fault she was having these fantasies about getting to be with Lucas for real instead of just for show. It was Nicole's fault that it was killing her to know that until this trip was over, it would always be fake when she and Lucas kissed and held each other, even if deep down Sami knew it wasn't really fake to her.   
  
"Get out." she said coldly, her eyes flashing hatefully. Taken aback by the look in Sami's eyes, Nicole took a step towards the door.   
  
"Obviously she's feeling a lot worse than I thought she was." Nicole tugged Jan towards the door, "Come on, let's go." the two of them left the room and Lucas returned with a glass of water for Sami. He handed it to her and she quickly downed half of it without stopping.   
  
"I shouldn't have kept you out there so long." the look in his eyes was gentle and apologetic, "I've had sun stroke before and it can be really harsh."   
  
He pulled the cloth off her forehead and moved it down to her cheeks, then to her neck and finally to the skin just above her the top of her shirt. He was obviously trying to cool her down but he was actually having the opposite effect. It felt like the heat from his hands was transferred to her skin through the cool wetness of the cloth, causing her entire body to tingle. _I'm not suffering from sun stroke_, Sami thought to herself, _I'm suffering from Lucas stroke_. The throbbing in her head increased and Sami shut her eyes, willing herself to think about anything but Lucas Roberts and what his touch did to her. 


	8. Kate Roberts Meets Sharon Osbourne

Chapter Eight

  
  
  
Sami paced nervously around the dressing room she was sharing with Lucas, while Lucas followed her, doing his best to calm her down. They had to go live on the Sharon Osbourne Show in a few minutes and Sami was a mess. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her so nervous. She hadn't even been this nervous about the other appearances they had made.   
  
"Sami, what are you so worried about?" he asked her finally, his hands seizing her shoulders so she couldn't continue making her way around the dressing room like a caged animal. Sami stiffened and whirled around to face him, crossing her arms over her chest.   
  
"Oh, just everything." she muttered, "To start off with, I'm worried about getting arrested for indecent exposure. I can't believe we let Nicole pick out our outfits for this show."   
  
Lucas gave Sami a slow, appraising look before responding. Nicole had decided that he and Sami should find outfits together for their appearance on the Sharon Osbourne Show. Eventually, Nicole had convinced Sami to wear a dark blue nightgown, which wasn't as revealing as some of the nightgowns Lucas had seen Sami in but it definitely wasn't something would have worn on live television without strong coercion. Lucas could also sympathize with Sami about her insecurities, he didn't feel all that comfortable in the pair of boxers a shade of blue identical to the colour of Sami's nightgown either.   
  
"I wouldn't worry about getting arrested." he said, tracing the neckline of the nightgown with one finger. He heard her sigh shakily at his touch and withdrew his hand, then smirked, "I bet you're also a little nervous because Sharon reminds you of Will's PE teacher. The one who wanted to share that tent with you."   
  
Sami's eyes widened, "I never even thought about that but you're right, she does look a lot like Pam. But besides that, I'm a little worried about what they have in store for us. They were so set on doing this live and Nicole's been acting really weird. I think she's planning something."   
  
"Nicole would never do anything to sabotage this publicity campaign." Lucas reminded Sami, "She's been telling us to crank up the heat the entire time and she's been giving us advice constantly. I don't think she'll do anything to ruin this for herself."   
  
"That's just it." Sami frowned, thinking hard about the situation, "She'd do anything to get more people to buy her book. If that means throwing something at us that we aren't expecting, then she would definitely do it. I don't know, I get this feeling that she and Jan have been hiding something from us."   
  
"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Lucas replied, "She can't pull anything off that we can't handle, right?"   
  
"Right." Sami repeated uncertainly. She opened her mouth to say something else but the door to their dressing room flew open and Nicole sauntered in. She eyed both Lucas and Sami critically before speaking.   
  
"You look good." she said finally, "Now, you both better act like you're incredibly horny today or I will start slipping aphrodisiacs into your food." she smiled slyly at the two of them, "And after you see the surprise we have ready for you, I bet you're going to really enjoy acting like you can't stop touching each other."   
  
Sami turned to glare at Lucas, "I told you! Nicole, what are you doing to do to us?"   
  
Nicole just grinned again, "You'll see." she pushed Sami towards the vanity desk, "Sami, you're eyes are all buggy and your face is pink. Fix it! We can't let you go on television looking like a frog or something." Nicole pushed Sami into the chair, humming to herself as she envisioned the scene that awaited Lucas and Sami on the Sharon Osbourne Show.   
  
  
Belle eyes were fixated on the television screen in front of her as Sharon Osbourne smiled brightly after she had finished greeting everyone, "And today, we have two very special guests who were kind enough to appear on my show. Please welcome Lyric Wilson, aka Sami Brady, and Lucas Roberts."   
  
Belle watched her sister proudly, "You know, I have serious bragging rights. I should go out and tell everyone that Lyric Wilson is my sister."   
  
"They probably wouldn't believe you." Mimi spoke up, looking at her friend doubtfully, "You two are complete opposites." Belle and Mimi had managed to get Phillip, Rex, Shawn and Brady to come over to the loft again and all four men were watching the screen.   
  
"And to think I always considered that a good thing." Belle grimaced with dissatisfaction, then turned her attention back to the television. Sami and Lucas climbed into the bed with Sharon Osbourne while the audience members applauded loudly. Once Sami and Lucas were in the bed and had exchanged hellos with Sharon, Sharon immediately began asking them questions.   
  
"So, is this a new experience for you?" she asked, the smile on her face too innocent to be believable, "Or do you share your bed with other people frequently?"   
  
Sami laughed, "Well, Lucas and I are always so busy experimenting with each other, that there really isn't room for anyone else. I don't think we really think about it because with everything we do together, we never get bored." Sami's words caused over half of the people in the audience to groan.   
  
Lucas grinned and looked out into the crowd, "But that doesn't mean we haven't had people asking to join us. In fact, that woman right there is incredibly persistent, I think she's asked us to have a threesome with her about ten different times." he pointed at someone sitting in the front row and the camera zoomed in on the person Lucas had drawn his attention to. Shawn locked eyes with the dark haired girl slinking lower in her seat and his breath caught in his throat.   
  
"Jan?" he croaked, causing Belle to gasp indignantly. She didn't like the way her ex-boyfriend said Jan's name, it made her feel like Jan was more important to Shawn than she was. But that couldn't be, Shawn's entire world revolved around her. Most people's lives revolved around her and the ones that didn't were just boring and unhappy.   
  
The camera shifted off of Jan but not before Brady caught an eyeful of his own. It wasn't Jan that had caught his attention, it was the woman sitting beside her that had caught his eye. He had taken one look at the blonde hair and slender frame and had realized who it was. But it didn't make sense. Why would Nicole be sitting in the audience of the Sharon Osbourne Show while Lucas and Sami were there?   
  
Brady turned his attention back to Sharon, who continued asking Lucas and Sami questions that he would have died before answering, "So, you enjoy experimenting with each other? I guess that means you'd try anything once and you like a little kink, correct?"   
  
"Definitely." Sami nodded in agreement, squeezing Lucas' arm, "Both of us are incredibly adventurous and we're more than willing to try anything once."   
  
"Care to give us some examples of some 'adventures' you've had?" Sharon asked, raising her eyebrow curiously.   
  
"Sure." Sami fell silent and she looked like she was pondering which story to tell the audience. Lucas watched her with a little smile on his face.   
  
"Tell them about the animal costumes, Sami." he urged her. Sami's eyes lit up at his words and she squeezed his arm again.   
  
"Well, a few months ago, Lucas and I were bored, so we rented these animal costumes. Lucas had a tiger costume and I had a bunny costume. Then we, ah, I'll let you figure out the rest."   
  
Mimi squealed, "Furry animal sex! That sounds like so much fun. Rex, could we-"   
  
"No."   
  
Mimi scowled at her boyfriend, who was looking pretty grumpy himself, "Why not? You're Lucas' brother, you should be as adventurous as he is? Please?"   
  
Rex smiled at his girlfriend's enthusiasm, "I'll think about it. Even though it would be pretty embarrassing to dress up like that."   
  
"Lucas and Sami don't think so." Belle sang out, looking over at Shawn and wondering how he would look dressed up in some kind of furry animal costume. Shawn didn't even notice her watching him intently and Belle huffed impatiently. She didn't know what could be occupying his attention so thoroughly these days. After all, she was here, therefore she should be the only one he was paying attention to.   
  
  
Brandon Walker took the time during the commercial break to go into his kitchen to get something to drink. When he returned, he picked up the papers he had left lying on the floor next to the couch. The signed annulment papers from Sami. He hadn't understood why she had changed her mind about him without any notice until that day. Lexie had called him to ask him if he knew about Sami and Lucas being engaged to each other. Lexie had also told Brandon that Sami was something of a celebrity now and was going to be making an appearance on the Sharon Osbourne Show with Lucas. Brandon had invited his friend, Mark, over to watch the show with him. Mark had really big ears and his favourite colour was green, so he always wore green. He reminded Brandon of a leprechaun. And if he was a leprechaun, he was a very horny one.   
  
"Oh, man, that furry animal thing was awesome." Mark said enthusiastically, "I gotta try that... tonight! Wonder who I could get into my bed at such short notice. Maybe one of the nurses..."   
  
"Do you mind?" Brandon interrupted crankily, "I hate to break you away from your furry sex fantasies but I have a real problem involving a real woman."   
  
"God, you're bitchy today." Mark remarked, "Forget to take your period medicine?"   
  
Brandon's eyes darkened and he turned back to the television. The commercial break had ended and Sami was back on the screen, "Look! That is my wife, sort of. We're in the middle of divorce, sort of and now she's screwing a guy she used to hate with a passion."   
  
"Ooh, that sounds sexy, sort of." Mark replied sarcastically, "So, she's really good?" he turned back to the screen, "She's already hot enough. Can you give me some exact measurements?"   
  
"Not right now." Brandon shot back absentmindedly, "I want to watch this so stop talking."   
  
Mark grumbled under his breath but relented and fell silent, "We've already established that you have a son together." Sharon was saying as she tilted her head to one side thoughtfully, "It is true that you are still technically married to another man, Sami?"   
  
Mark let out a low whistle, "Hey, they're going to start talking about you. What a coincidence."   
  
"Shut up." Brandon growled, leaning forward.   
  
Lucas shook his head and wrapped his arms around Sami's shoulders, "Still haven't gotten Brandon to sign those annulment papers, Sami?"   
  
Sami seemed to relax at his words, "Not yet. He's really stubborn. If he doesn't sign them soon, I'll have to take drastic measures."   
  
"How dare she!" Brandon seethed, "I wasn't the one who wouldn't sign those papers, it was the other way around."   
  
Mark patted Brandon's arm, "Yeah, I believe you, buddy."   
  
"I'm sure we're all very curious about how Brandon measures to Lucas." Sharon prompted, "Care to answer that one for us, Sami?"   
  
"Sure." Sami's eyes flashed wickedly, "Well, if you really want to know how Brandon 'measures up' to Lucas, he doesn't. At most, he's half the size of Lucas here. I'm just so disgusted that I wasted so much time with him, faking orgasm when I could have had the real thing with Lucas. Especially when, unlike Brandon, Lucas really loves me and respects me."   
  
Brandon's face heated up and he gritted his teeth angrily. Mark threw his head back and laughed hysterically, "Oh, shit, she just made a fool out of you. That is too funny. I know girls would never say that about me after I get through with them. But this Lucas guy has got to have something special. You think he'd let me in on what his secret is."   
  
Between dealing with his anger and Mark's laughter, Brandon didn't hear much of what was being said for the next few minutes. Finally, Mark stopped laughing and Brandon managed to harness his anger. He had to kick the coffee table several times, producing large dents in the process but he finally calmed down enough to listen to what was being said.   
  
"And now, we've got a little surprise for you." Sharon said enigmatically. Brandon noticed the uneasy expression on Sami's face and couldn't help but gloat inwardly at her evident discomfort, "Your publicist, Ms. Olga Steinhilber, managed to arrange all of this for today's show and we're very grateful to her for that. So, Lucas, why don't you and Sami say hello to your mother?"   
  
  
Jennifer watched Kate Roberts march over to the bed, her lips pressed together angrily. Jennifer turned to Hope and Lexie, her eyes wide with surprise, "I certainly wasn't expecting that. Good thing I sent Will upstairs to play with Abby and told him he couldn't watch this. I have a feeling that this could get ugly."   
  
Hope shook her head, "Kate wouldn't lash out at Sami in front of all those people, would she?"   
  
"I don't know." Jennifer mused, "She was furious about finding out about the engagement the last time I saw her. I guess we'll have to watch and see."   
  
Kate eyes were flashing as she stopped next to the bed, "How could you do it, Lucas? You know that Sami is nothing but trouble, why would you purposely put yourself in a situation you don't want to be in?"   
  
"Maybe I do want to be in Sam- in this situation." Lucas retorted as Kate turned an ever darker shade of red at Lucas' slip of words.   
  
"Lucas, I am not going to tolerate this!" Kate yelled, pulling on Sami's arm, "Get out of that bed right now, you tramp. Stay away from my son!"   
  
"Do you think she realizes what an idiot she's making out of herself?" Lexie wondered as Lucas pushed Kate of Sami. Sami scooted closer to Lucas and farther away from Kate.   
  
Sharon looked confused, "Wait a second. Are you telling me that your mother doesn't approve of your relationship with this woman?"   
  
"That's right." Lucas cast a disappointed glance in his mother's direction, "I don't think she understand how deep my feelings go for Sami. I don't think she ever will."   
  
Sami gazed up at Lucas adoringly, "But if that's how it's going to be, then we can easily work around it. Iit won't be that hard because having an obstacle like Kate in our path makes the sexual tension in our relationship so much higher." Sami leaned back into Lucas' chest and raised her head to kiss him. When Lucas deepened the kiss, Kate flung herself at Sami. But Lucas pulled Sami tighter into his arms and pulled her out of Kate's reach, so all Kate managed to do was grab a handful of blankets. Sputtering angrily, Kate was dragged away by some of the crew while Lucas and Sami continued making out. The audience booed Kate as she was dragged off set. Sharon looked away from Lucas and Sami and faced the camera, still holding a smile in tact.   
  
"I think that's all we have time for today." she said, "Let's give Sami and Lucas a round of applause for their time. I hope you enjoyed the show." 


	9. Praying Mantises

Chapter Nine

  
  
  
"Lucas Desmond Roberts, you had better start telling me what is going on. I can't _believe_ you would hide something this important from me." Kate's caustic tone matched the hostility in her dark eyes as she regarded both Lucas and Sami. As soon as all three of them had reached backstage, Kate had pounced on the two of them, ranting angrily about how disappointed she was with Lucas.   
  
Lucas shot a quick glance at Sami out of the corner of his eye. He didn't want to face his mother right now, he didn't know if he could pull off deceiving her so completely. It would take a lot to fool her, she had always been able to see through him. If he and Sami were going to keep his mother convinced that they were actually engaged, they were going to have to pull out all the stops in their performance.   
  
"I didn't know how to tell you about Sami and I." Lucas responded, lowering his gaze, "I knew you would react like this and I didn't want to deal with you. I just wanted the two of us to enjoy this trip, without having to worry about anything else. I wanted the two of us to be happy, that's all."   
  
"Happy?" Kate sputtered in disbelief, "Sami couldn't possibly make you happy? She's a lying, selfish bitch that doesn't give a rat's ass about you. How can you allow yourself to be blinded like this?"   
  
"You don't know anything about it, Kate." Sami cut in smoothly, one hand sliding up and down the length of Lucas' arm, "Lucas and I make each other very happy. In fact, I think he's most happy when we're-"   
  
"I'm sure she doesn't want to hear about that, Sami." Lucas chided her. Kate couldn't pull her eyes away from Sami's hand, watching as the blonde woman continued moving her hand along her son's arm, stroking him. Kate gritted her teeth and willed Sami to stop touching Lucas with her mind. But it didn't work. Sami never did what Kate wanted her to do.   
  
"There are plenty of _nice_ women around. Why did you have to pick Sami? Look, why don't you go talk to her, see what she's like?" Kate pointed to a woman standing a few feet away, talking with some of the crew workers.   
  
"No!" Jan came up to stand beside Lucas, "We will not sacrifice Lucas to that turbo-bitch. Or let her eat him after mating. Praying mantises do that, I bet you didn't know that before I told you. But seriously, she reminds me of a praying mantis. She yelled at me for being backstage because she thought I wasn't supposed to be here."   
  
"I remember you, you were on of Phillip's classmates." Kate observed, wrinkling her nose distastefully, "What are you doing here?"   
  
Jan gave Kate a charming smile, "Because I own Lucas and he owns me. I just let Sami play with him but he's really mine."   
  
"Excuse me?" Kate blinked, not sure how to respond to the girl's comment.   
  
"Don't listen to her, she's delusional." Sami jumped in, looking past Lucas to glare at Jan. Kate watched Sami stroke Lucas' arm for a few more seconds before finally losing it and pushing Sami's arm away.   
  
"Stop _molesting_ his arm, you whore!" Kate shrieked, causing Jan, Sami and Lucas to take a step back. Sami eyed Kate innocently.   
  
"I'm sorry, I hadn't realized I was offending you." Sami's voice oozed fake sweetness, "I can keep my hands off him now, I promise."   
  
"You better." Kate grumbled, then stared at Sami, horror-stricken, as Sami replaced the hand that had been on Lucas' arm with her mouth.   
  
Sami slid her mouth along the hard muscles of Lucas' arm, enjoying the knowledge that she was driving Kate crazy. She made it down to Lucas' elbow and pulled her mouth away from his skin, breaking contact with a loud smacking sound for Kate's benefit.   
  
"Mm, salty." Sami took hold of Lucas' hand and brought it up to her mouth. She licked across his knuckles first, his skin silky and hot under her tongue. Then, without hesitation, she pulled one finger into her mouth. Imitating a more sensual act, she slid her mouth up and down the length of his finger, her tongue swirling around it. She heard Lucas take a sharp breath and she withdrew his finger from her mouth.   
  
"Oh, the ecstasy." she said in a breathless voice, trying her best not to laugh as she took his second finger into her mouth. She knew Kate must be in shock by now and she certainly didn't mind the way Lucas seemed to be reacting to her touch either.   
  
"See, you _do_ act like a dog in heat around my son." Kate's voice was a mixture of horrified and disgusted, "How do you put up with her, Lucas?"   
  
"Well, she said it herself." Lucas murmured, using his free hand to caress Sami's shoulder, "She can be a real slave driver. But I never get tired of being with her. She's the most amazing, beautiful, passionate..." Sami looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with contentment and pleasure at his compliments.   
  
"You can heap flattery on me when we're alone together." she told him, cupping the side of his face with her hand, "But for right now, just shut your mouth and kiss me."   
  
Lucas smirked, "That's one hell of an oxymoron. Because in order to kiss you, I have to open my-" Sami cut him off and pressed her mouth against his, her lips pushing urgently against him. Kate let out an enraged squeal and stamped her foot in a vain attempt to get the couple to separate.   
  
"I can't believe this is happening. Sami, get off him. He doesn't feel anything for you, you porno-writing slut! He just wants to get in your pants and you are allowing him to do exactly that. But once he's finished you, he's going to leave you with nothing more than a harsh reminder of how much he truly despises you."   
  
That was all it took for Lucas and Sami to pull apart. Sami turned to scowl at Kate but her eyes flickered with uncertainty, hurt and unhappiness for a split second. Lucas noticed the look and encircled her waist with both arms. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek gently.   
  
"Don't listen to her, Sami. You know that she's lying. She doesn't know how to accept the way we feel about each other and she's lashing out at you because of that. But she couldn't be any more wrong, sweetheart. I promise."   
  
Sami tilted her head back and rested her head on Lucas' chest, "I don't doubt how you feel about me, Lucas. I know that are feelings for each other are more than just physical and nothing Kate says can change that."   
  
Jan looked at Kate incredulously, "You don't have very much faith in your son, do you? If you were my mom, I think I would have disowned you."   
  
"Stay out of this." Kate snapped at Jan, then turned to look at Lucas beseechingly, "Lucas, please!"   
  
Lucas ignored his mother and pressed against the top of Sami's head, nuzzling his nose against her hair, "I want you so much, Sami." he whispered, although he made sure to keep it loud enough for Kate to hear.   
  
The tone he used was so genuine and so loving, Sami almost forgot that they were only playing a part. For a moment, she let herself believe that Lucas really was hers, instead of just her co-star for these four weeks, "I want you too, Lucas." she whispered back, then remembered the closet about ten feet behind her. Taking Lucas by the hand, she pulled him over to the closet. Before Kate had the chance to react, Sami yanked Lucas inside after her, shutting the door quickly. Once she and Lucas were safely hidden away from Kate in the closet, Sami wrapped her arms around Lucas and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing softly. For a few moments, all she could hear was the sound of the heavy breathing coming from both her and Lucas. Then she heard Kate's angry yelling. She could hear Kate behind the door to the closet, banging on the door loudly and screaming at her to get out.   
  
Sami pressed her back against the door, so that Kate wouldn't be able to open it. Despite the darkness in the cramped closet, Sami could still make out the questioning look in Lucas' eyes.   
  
"What was that all about?" he asked.   
  
Sami tried to smile, "I knew it wouldn't be easy to fool your mom about the two of us being together." she confessed quietly, "I just laid it on thick so it would be convincing. Did I do okay?"   
  
Lucas returned Sami's smile easily, "You did great. You were fantastic." he shifted so that the remaining space the had been between them was gone, "And now that we've done such a great job with my mom already, don't you think it would be better if we made the whole thing more... authentic?"   
  
"What do you mean?" Sami asked in a shaky voice, already guessing what he had meant by his statement.   
  
"I mean, we should do this." Lucas elaborated, leaning down for a no-holds barred variety of a kiss. He tangled his hands in her hair while her nails dug into his back. Sami could feel Kate trying to push the door open and with each effort Kate made to open the door, Sami was pushed a little bit closer to Lucas. Sami clung to Lucas tightly, her mouth feeding off of him, only coming up for air when she absolutely had to. Kate continued trying to open the door but Lucas pushed both of his hands against the door, putting a stop to the rattling Kate was making with the door. His lips left Sami's mouth and trailed down to her neck, teasing the soft skin of her throat with his lips and tongue. Sami tilted her head back, giving him better access to her neck. Outside the closet, Kate seemed to have given up on trying to get the closet open because Sami couldn't hear her shouting outside the door anymore.   
  
"She's gone." Sami said, trying to catch her breath. Panting softly, Lucas pulled away from Sami slightly, who was reaching behind her to open the door. Lucas quickly grabbed her hand before she could open it.   
  
"I think we're fine where we are." Lucas mumbled, dropping another kiss onto Sami's lips. Sami's eyes fluttered shut and she took a deep breath.   
  
"I guess we could stay in here for a few minutes longer." Sami relented, trying to sound reluctant. But when Lucas captured her bottom lip with his mouth and began stroking her inner lips with his tongue, she had to stifle a moan and her knees almost buckled from the intensity of Lucas' kiss. At that moment, the publicity campaign and Kate felt non-existent, the only thing that was real was the feeling of Lucas touching her. 


	10. You Deserve To Be Loved

Chapter Ten

  
  
  
The salty sting of ocean air burned against Sami's cheeks and whipped her hair wildly around her face. She and Lucas had just finished another book signing and were taking a ferry back to their hotel. The wind was icy and cold on the deck of the ferry but neither Lucas or Sami were in the mood to deal with Nicole, so they were hiding from her. Sami nestled closer to Lucas' chest, clutching her sweater tighter around her body. Lucas seemed to feel her shiver beneath his arms and gently pulled her body closer to his. Sami stopped shivering and inhaled deeply, listening to the sound of waves hitting the side of the ferry. Closing her eyes, she let herself absorb the feelings of Lucas holding her. She couldn't get over how good it felt to be in Lucas' arms. Sitting innocently on the deck of the ferry with him, his fingers drawing trails up and down her stomach made her feel peaceful, something she usually didn't feel.   
  
With every rise and fall of his chest, her head moved up and down a little bit more. It was early evening and the entire deck of the ferry was deserted except for her and Lucas. Sami finally looked up and noticed the small half smile on Lucas' face as he looked down at her with amusement.   
  
"What are you smiling at?" she asked, pressing her cheek against his chest.   
  
"You." he responded, the smile on his face widening as she curled her legs around his, "I was just thinking about how cute you are. It's so adorable when you get all snuggly when you're tired."   
  
"Snuggly?" Sami repeated distastefully, hiding a smile of her own with disgust, "Don't start getting all mushy on me, Lucas. I'm too worn out to deal with it."   
  
"You know what else is cute?" Lucas continued pointlessly, ignoring Sami's words, "When you talk in your sleep. Yeah, it's annoying sometimes when it wakes me up but a lot of the time you say the funniest stuff."   
  
Sami exhaled impatiently, "Well, your snoring wakes me up all the time too. You sound like a truck." she fell silent for a few minutes but her curiosity got the better of her, "What kinds of things do I say?"   
  
Lucas smirked at her, "Just... stuff. And sometimes, you start talking about me in your sleep. Sometimes, you confess your undying love for me and once, you even asked me to marry you. Then this other time, you called me your teddy bear."   
  
"That has to be a lie." Sami retorted, her face growing hot, "You're making this all up, aren't you?"   
  
"Nope." Lucas tilted her chin up so she was facing him, "You're also really cute when you blush." suddenly his smile faded and the playful look in his eyes turned serious. Sami frowned slightly, wondering what had caused the sudden change of mood in Lucas.   
  
"Why do you make is so easy?" he asked, his voice filled with awe as he stared at her in a way that made Sami squirm with both pleasure and discomfort at the same time. She shifted uncomfortably but only managed to settle her body even closer to Lucas' in the process.   
  
"Make what so easy?" Sami asked, her voice filled with mild curiosity.   
  
Lucas seemed unsure of how to finish his line of thought and began stammering nervously, "I just mean that you, uh, you know what I mean, you make it easy to-" he took a deep breath, brushing her hair out of her eyes tenderly, "You make it so easy to fall in lo-"   
  
"Lucas!" Sami barely resisted letting out a frustrated scream at the sound of the unfamiliar, high-pitched voice. Assuming it was another fan, she turned her head to see the tall, dark-haired woman standing in front of them. Sami opened her mouth to snap at the woman, then decided against it. But she didn't ever care if the woman was a fan anymore, she was sick of these obsessed woman coming between her and Lucas. First there was that one in the tree and now this. And just when Lucas had come so close to admitting that he really cared about her. Sami hoped the woman wouldn't ask for any autographs because then she would have to use a pen to stab the girl in the forehead.   
  
Lucas had also turned his attention to the woman and he seemed to tense when he saw her. The woman smiled flirtatiously at him before speaking, "I can't believe you're here. It's been such a long time since I've seen you, what are you doing here?"   
  
"I am trying to spend some time alone with my _fianc_." he said testily. Once Sami heard the abrupt tone of voice he used with the woman, Sami knew that he had to know her from somewhere already. And he obviously didn't like her very much either.   
  
"Oh, that's right, you're engaged." the woman turned her attention to Sami, "I can't remember the last time I have laughed so hard watching the Sharon Osbourne Show. I read your books whenever I get the chance, Lyric. What was your real name again? Sarah or something?"   
  
"Sami." Sami corrected her. The woman looked over at Lucas, as if she was hoping he would introduce her to Sami. But Lucas remained silent, one hand reaching around to squeeze Sami's. The overly sweet smile that had been on the woman's face faded.   
  
"Well, I just saw the two of you out here and I thought I would come over and say hi." she tugged on her hair in agitation, "And, Lucas, I'd ask you to give me a call sometime but I guess that's out of the question now."   
  
Lucas nodded in agreement, "It _is_ out the question. Bye, Linda."   
  
The girl scowled at him, "It's Lindsay." she told him, her eyes flashing indignantly.   
  
"Oh, right, Lindsay. Bye." Lucas waved at her but it was more of a dismissive wave than a polite one that said good-bye. Lindsay turned around and stomped off, leaving Lucas and Sami alone again.   
  
Sami turned to face Lucas, her eyes questioning, "Who was that?"   
  
Lucas dropped his gaze to the floor, "I can't really remember. I think she was one of my..."   
  
"One of your play toys? One of your one-night stands?" Sami finished helpfully.   
  
"Pretty much." he answered, his voice low and filled with shame. Sami sighed and touched his arm gently.   
  
"Why did you do that? Why did you let them use you when you could have had better?" she asked.   
  
Lucas finally looked up, his eyes flaring with mild anger, "I don't remember you caring that much at the time. The only reason you ever said anything about it was because you thought it was bad for Will."   
  
"That's not true." Sami shot back, remembering the insistent and unexplainable feelings of jealousy she felt every time she watched Lucas with another woman, "I just meant, they only wanted one thing from you and that wasn't fair to you." _Although I can't really blame them for wanting him_, Sami added to herself, _It's hard not to_, "You deserve to be loved because you're an amazing person, not just because you have the body of a-" she quickly put a stop to her words, knowing there was no reason she should inflate his ego further by finishing that sentence.   
  
Lucas stared at her, his eyes filled with hope and gratitude, "Thank you." he whispered, his face drawing closer to hers. Sami swallowed hard, realizing what she had just said. She tried inching away from him, a feeling of helplessness washing over her. But every time she moved a little bit further away from him, he would move closer to her, constantly refilling the gap between them.   
  
"I wasn't talking about myself." she said, her voice strained with panic, "I just meant you deserve to be loved by someone, not me. Because I don't, you know that, right?"   
  
"Yeah, I know that." he replied in a husky voice, using one arm to hold Sami by the waist to keep her from moving away again. Sami tried to squirm away from him but Lucas had made doing that almost impossible.   
  
"I mean it. I really don't." Sami repeated, praying her voice didn't betray the fact that she was lying.   
  
"I know." then he fell silent and before Sami had a chance to react, his lips were on hers. He just seemed to let his lips rest on top of hers lightly, as if gauging her reaction. Unable to push him away, Sami parted her lips and pressed back against his mouth, her hands raking through thick, dark hair. Lucas' tongue explored her mouth and her hands left his hair to caress his chest and shoulders. For moment, she let herself get lost in the warm sensations of how he tasted and felt before realizing that she was spinning out of control again. No matter how hard she tried to stop herself, she always seemed to let herself go when he touched her. That scared her immensely but there was no way she could stop herself now, not when his tongue was tracing the insides of her mouth, not when he had gathered her up in his arms and was kissing her with uninhibited passion. Every muscle in her body ached with tension, it was almost as if she _needed_ him to touch her. She would pull away the next time he kissed her. But even as she made the promise to herself, the prospect of their _next_ kiss was so much more welcoming than it should have been. 


	11. Pushed Too Far

Chapter Eleven

  
  
  
Sami sighed with disgust as she pulled her hair from the braided bun, shaking her long blonde locks free from their confinements. She and Lucas had finished another public appearance about half an hour before and Sami had already finished changing out of the somewhat skimpy outfit Nicole had helped her choose and into a pair of a jeans and a t-shirt. In the reflection of the mirror in front of her, Sami snuck a quick look at Lucas, who was lounging on their bed in their hotel room. Sami gave her hair a few half-hearted strokes with her brush, then sat down next to Lucas on the bed.   
  
"I can't believe there is still over two weeks of this publicity campaign." Sami complained, "It is getting so boring and repetitive it's not even funny. I can't wait until we get to back to Salem where we don't have to do any of this."   
  
But the truth was, the publicity campaign had been anything but boring for Sami. The stolen kisses she had shared with Lucas had been exhilarating, the perpetual sight of him wearing practically nothing had been lust-provoking and sharing the same bed with him last night was causing her fantasies to become more vivid and more frequent than ever before. So, that meant Sami had only been partially lying when she told Lucas she couldn't wait to go back to Salem. One part of her hated the prospect of returning to Salem, where she would not get to kiss him any time she wanted without giving away her true feelings but the other part was relieved that the game would be over. She could go back to pushing Lucas away, whereas on live television, where she was supposed to act like his adoring fiancé, pushing away his advances was out of the question.   
  
Lucas sat up and tilted his head to one side, smirking adorably at Sami, "I'm enjoying myself, actually. What's wrong with you? Am I getting to be too much for you to handle? I can tone it down if you want but I think Nicole would have a thing or two to say about that."   
  
_Too much for me to handle? If only you knew_, Sami shook her head abruptly, shooting down his suggestion, "Of course not. But I'm pretty much pretending to be _Nicole_ and it gets old fast."   
  
"If you're Nicole, then who does that make me?" Lucas mused, "Victor?"   
  
"I think Brady is more accurate than Victor." Sami responded, remembering how Nicole had confided in Sami her feelings for Brady several times on the trip, "And don't get me started on your little fan girls." Sami began mimicking the girls in a high-pitched voice, "Oh, Lucas, you're soooooo sexy. I love you sooooo much. Will you sign my chest? Will you take a picture with me? Can I have a piece of your hair? Will you let me take you home so you can wax my inner thighs and ravage me over and over?"   
  
Lucas' eyebrows shot up in surprise and amusement, "Someone sounds a little jealous." he remarked.   
  
"Jealous?" Sami sputtered angrily, "Hardly. I'd die before being jealous of those little witches with horrible taste and no self-control. God, I think they would all ban together, tie you up and gang-rape you if they had the chance."   
  
Lucas didn't look worried or insulted by her words, "Really? I bet you'd hate that. Because the only one you want me to be with is you. Isn't that right?"   
  
"No." Sami said as forcefully as she could. Lucas scooted closer to her, "No." she repeated when Lucas snaked his arm around her waist. He leaned in so that his mouth hovered above her ear. She could feel his hot breath hitting her and her pulse raced frantically. Warning signals were going off in her brain, telling her to push him away but at that moment, she was completely frozen.   
  
"But those girls mean nothing to me, Sami. They couldn't because I'm already-"   
  
Sami didn't want to hear him finish the sentence. She was scared of what she would do if he finished that sentence and said something that would make her want to push herself on top of him and beg him to make love to her. Hell, she already felt that way almost one-hundred percent of the time. No one, not even Austin or Brandon, had ever appealed to her as much as Lucas did right now. Sure, she had been very attracted to them, maybe even in love with them but not like this. They had never made her mind cloud over with complete lust and affection like Lucas did. And that scared her because she hadn't even cared about Austin or Brandon as much as she did Lucas and she had failed with both of them. Eventually, she had written off the failures as the fact that she had cared too much about them and if she cared more about Lucas than she had about them, then didn't that mean they were even more likely to end up failing? She didn't want to think about it, she just wanted to run away from Lucas until she had gotten rid of these feelings.   
  
"Don't touch me." she cut him off, pushing his arm away, "We're only supposed to... paw each other in public places, not when no one is watching. Who do you think you are?"   
  
"Whoever and whatever you want me to be." Lucas whispered seductively in her ear. Sami choked back a sound of protest as he bit her earlobe teasingly. Sami couldn't do it anymore, she couldn't keep bouncing back and forth with her reactions to him. She had to put a stop to whatever was going on between them before they ended up getting hurt. Sami wasn't even sure if Lucas did feel the same way about her or if he was just getting caught up in the publicity campaign. And for the time being, she couldn't risk herself.   
  
"Lucas, stop!" she said sharply, leaving Lucas' arms to stand up, "I am not jealous of anyone and I do not want you to be anything but a completely platonic friend to me." she tried to soften her words slightly, "I care about you, Lucas. Just not in that way."   
  
Lucas' eyes darkened with confusion and hurt. The look he gave her was enough to make her want to scream at him. _Don't look at me like that! You know me better than anyone else, you're supposed to be able to _tell_ when I'm lying_, she screamed at him with her mind. She watched as his eyes glazed over with another emotion and her heart sank. Now he was mad. She hadn't wanted that.   
  
"So, you just decided to kiss me back when I kissed you and act like you wanted me for the hell of it?" he demanded, "What, you were just playing around for the past few months?"   
  
"It wasn't the past few months, it only started when we decided to do this publicity campaign for Nicole." Sami protested, "And we're supposed to be kissing and acting like we want each other in front of everyone, remember?"   
  
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Lucas shot back, "Even when we were alone, I thought that it was more than just pretending with you. I thought the idea that you wanted money for doing this for Nicole was just a cover-up so we could get closer."   
  
Sami tried to laugh, "And everyone tells me that I'm the one who's delusional. I didn't even want to do this in the first place, Lucas. If it wasn't for the money, I wouldn't be here right now."   
  
Lucas' lower lip curled slightly with disgust, "So, you'd throw yourself at me for the sake of money? That sounds really familiar. I think you're getting a little too caught up in role-playing because you're acting more like Nicole every day."   
  
Knowing he meant that in the worst way possible, Sami responded harshly, "You're so God damn pathetic. You can't get anyone else to look twice at you, so you're just using this publicity trip to get to me. I'm sorry but it's not going to work."   
  
"I can't get anyone else to look twice at me?" Lucas repeated incredulously, his eyes flashing pure anger, "Is that so? Well, I think I can prove you wrong on that account. You're not the only woman in the world, Sami. But for the past little while, I _thought_ you were the only one I wanted to be with."   
  
Sami watched him storm out of the hotel room, slamming the door behind him. Completely shocked by Lucas' sudden actions, it took her a good couple minutes to regain her composure and react. By the time she stepped outside the hotel room, she couldn't see Lucas anywhere. Looking from one end of the hallway to the other, she debated which way to go. Finally making her way over to the elevators, she quickened her pace when she realized just how much she had just screwed up. In her attempt to push Lucas away from her, she had pushed Lucas too far and now the only thing she wanted to do was apologize. 


	12. Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places

Chapter Twelve

  
  
  
After a good hour of wandering around the hotel searching for Lucas, Sami gave up. She had wound up in the back alley behind the hotel and sunk to the ground in defeat. With her back pressed against the wall of the hotel, she hugged her knees to her chest, missing Lucas. Still unable to push his earlier words out her head, she relented, letting them run through her mind over and over, like a mantra."   
  
_"You're not the only woman in the world, Sami. But for the past little while, I thought you were the only one I wanted to be with."_   
  
God, she was an idiot. It didn't matter how scared she was, she should never have treated Lucas the way she had. But it seemed like he was always the one she took for granted and hurt, when he was the last person who deserved that from her. He had always been there for her, he had been one of the only people who had cared when she had been hurt or upset for the past few months. Had she ever really taken the time to acknowledge or appreciate him? Maybe a little bit, but definitely not the way she should have. Sami sighed, vowing to do everything she could to treat Lucas better. It would take some work, since she had so easily fallen into the pattern of pushing Lucas away and not letting him know how much everything he did for her meant to her but she could at least try.   
  
Standing up, Sami brushed her jeans free of dirt and wondered if Lucas had went back up to their hotel room already. Even though she figured he was still too upset with her to go anywhere near their hotel room yet, Sami decided she would just go back up there and wait for him. She might even run into him on the way back up to the room. Anything was better than staying out here. She didn't have a very good history with dark, abandoned alleys in the first place.   
  
As if on cue, a crashing noise sounded from about ten feet away from her. Sami jumped nervously, then relaxed when she heard the familiar huff of annoyance, "Damn trash cans. Why do people always put them in places where I end up walking into them?" Sami turned her heard towards the source of the noise and moments later, Nicole emerged, limping slightly.   
  
"What are you doing back here?" Sami demanded as Nicole wobbled closer to her. Nicole gave Sami a pained smile before leaning against the hotel wall for support.   
  
"Looking for love in all the wrong places." she said cheerfully. Sami frowned and took a step away from Nicole.   
  
"I'm sorry but I don't swing that way." Sami replied. Nicole's smile faded and she shook her head unhappily.   
  
"Ew, I wasn't talking about you. I just meant, well, you know, back alleys, male prostitutes." Nicole tried to explain, then threw her hands up in disgust, "Forget it. I don't think I'll ever be able to find someone who understands my sense of humour. Actually, I was just taking a walk because Jan was getting on my nerves. What are you doing back here? And where's your fiancé?"   
  
Sami flinched, hating the way Nicole was constantly referring to Lucas as her fiancé, "It's sort of a coincidence that you'd mention Lucas." she began, then stopped abruptly, unable to finish what she had been trying to say.   
  
"You two aren't estranged already, are you?" Nicole shook her head sadly, "And you two were getting along so well too. I knew it couldn't last that long."   
  
"Estranged? That's a big word for a back alley whore like you, Nicole. Have you been reading the dictionary in hopes to expand your vocabulary so you can sell more books?" Sami returned nastily, wanting to deviate Nicole's attention from the current state her relationship with Lucas was in.   
  
Nicole let Sami's remarks slide without protesting, causing Sami to wonder if Nicole really _did_ read dictionaries in her spare time, "What happened?" Nicole crossed her arms across her chest and shifted her weight in anticipation, as if preparing to listen to long and dramatic story from Sami.   
  
Sami scowled, "None of your business. I just said some things I shouldn't have. But I'm going to find him and apologize."   
  
"Damn straight." Nicole agreed, then lowered her voice, "And if you apologize and he's still really pouty and everything, you could start kissing him and tell him you could easily make him forget all the awful things you said to him. You could move your hands down his chest until you reach his-"   
  
"Nicole!" Sami intervened sharply, her face burning, "Stop giving me advice like that. It scares me. But I was planning on going to find him before you showed up, so I should leave now."   
  
"I'll come too." Nicole added, "I have to make sure you apologize properly."   
  
Sami gave Nicole a dirty look in response, "Did I not just tell you that I'm not going to follow your advice? Especially with you watching. Honestly, could you get any dumber?"   
  
"You're just jealous." Nicole said arrogantly, "You just wish your relationship could be as wonderful as the one I have with Brady. We never fight."   
  
Sami snorted and stepped inside the hotel, "If you want to think that, then by all means, have fun." she muttered, her voice oozing sarcasm. She and Nicole reached Sami's hotel room and they both entered it to find Jan sitting on the bed. Sami's opened suitcase sat next to her and Jan's head was bent over the contents of Sami's suitcase. Sami gasped indignantly and stormed over to the unsuspecting girl, who finally looked up guiltily.   
  
"What the hell is going on? You have no right to go through my suitcases, you little tramp." Sami shrieked, shoving Jan off the bed angrily. Jan fell to the ground with a loud thud.   
  
"Sami, I wasn't doing anything wrong." she whined, pulling herself to her feet, "I had a perfectly good reason for going through you suitcase, I promise."   
  
"Really?" Sami raised her eyebrows doubtfully, "Then, please, enlighten me. What were you doing?"   
  
Jan smiled gleefully, skipping out of Sami's reach, "It's sort of a long story. Do you really want to know?" she asked in a sing-song voice. Wondering what had put Jan in such a good mood, Sami merely nodded and waited for Jan to elaborate.   
  
"Well, I was downstairs and I ran into Lucas. He looked pretty upset about something, so I sort of tried to cheer him up. Then, after we had been talking for about ten minutes, he asked me if I wanted to go see a movie with him. He said he knows there's a movie theatre a couple blocks away and then I said y-"   
  
"Lucas did what?" Nicole exploded, "He can't take you on a date. He's supposed to be engaged! Do you know what the press would do if they found out?" Sami just stood there, gaping at Jan in shock.   
  
"But he will take me out on a date and there's nothing you can do to stop him." Jan said, her lower lip protruding stubbornly, "He told me he wants me. He said he can't wait until we get inside the _dark_ movie theatre so that he can start feeling me up and-"   
  
"You stupid bitch!" Sami interrupted, her eyes shooting icicles into Jan, who seemed oblivious to Sami's anger.   
  
"I don't believe a word you're saying." Nicole knew Jan too well to buy any of it, "Tell the truth, woman. What did he really say?"   
  
"Fine, the _real_ Lucas said I was a sweet kid and that he'd like to spend the night with me as friends. But the _fantasy_ Lucas was standing right next to the real Lucas, telling me all the other stuff Lucas was leaving out. I don't get it." Jan looked genuinely upset and confused, "Why do the fantasy Shawn and Lucas always say the really nice things to me while the real ones don't?"   
  
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because they're _in your mind_." Nicole practically shouted the last three words.   
  
"Would you mind? You didn't let me finish my story." Jan complained, "Anyways, Lucas is supposed to come get me in like, five minutes so we can go. He left for a while because he said he wanted to go for a walk. And after I had gotten changed into a nice outfit to wear to the movies, fantasy Lucas told me that it was Sami's perfume that made him like her better than me. So, I snuck it here to find your perfume and then you found me."   
  
Nicole looked almost afraid for the young woman. She turned Sami and said in a low whisper, "It's bad enough she has these fantasy guys. But the fact that she actually listens to them is harshly creepy."   
  
Sami's face was contorted with rage and she slammed her suitcase shut, "That bastard." she fumed, "How can he take her anywhere? I don't care if he's trying to prove a point, he had no right to ask her out on a date. There's no way I'm making up with him now."   
  
"Aw, too bad." Nicole turned to Jan, "She had very special ways planned for how she was going to 'make-up' with Lucas." Nicole explained.   
  
Sami looked up from her suitcase to roll her eyes, "Do all erotic novelists have one-track minds?" she asked Nicole.   
  
"Probably." Nicole grinned for a moment but the grin faded when the door to the hotel room opened. Lucas took a few steps into the room, before seeing that Sami, Nicole and Jan were all staring at him.   
  
Fighting his eyes away from Sami's furious gaze, he looked at the one person who seemed happy to see him, "Jan, um, I was going to come get you from your room in a minute. I just need to get my jacket and then we can leave." still avoiding the looks Sami and Nicole were giving him, he picked up his jacket off the floor. Shrugging into the denim jacket, he winced at the sound of Sami shoving her suitcase off her bed and letting it bang onto the floor. There was a few moments of prolonged and awkward silence, Jan cleared her throat nervously.   
  
"We should go, Lucas." without a backwards glance at Sami or Nicole, Jan steered him out of the bedroom. Once they were gone, Nicole exhaled loudly.   
  
"A whore and a whore. Wonder what they're planning on doing." Nicole mused, making Sami's eyes darken indignantly.   
  
"Lucas isn't a whore." she shot back before she could stop herself.   
  
"I thought you were mad at him." Nicole reminded Sami, then decided to change the subject, "But you're right. I don't think Jan is Lucas' type. Didn't Jan say that he called her a sweet kid? I guess he kind of considers her a little sister or something." Nicole grimaced, "Wait, judging from a conversation I overheard Rex and Mimi having, that's a very bad comparison. Because it sounded like Lucas and Cassie treated each other like siblings with benefits."   
  
"I don't want to talk about Cassie." Sami countered, "But you're right, I know Lucas won't do anything with Jan. I would have apologized to him too, I really would have. But he had to go and be stupid and invite Jan to the movies with him..." Sami's voice trailed off. Nicole suddenly sprang to life and began pulling Sami towards the door.   
  
"You can apologize to him at the movie theatre." Nicole told her, "Because we are going to follow Jan and Lucas and crash their date. I really don't want newspaper headlines reading, 'Lyric Wilson's Fiancé and His Infidelity' or something equally stupid. Come on, we have to catch up to them." without giving Sami the chance to protest, Nicole continued dragging Sami out of the bedroom, barely giving Sami the chance to shut the door to her hotel room behind her. 


	13. Popcorn Has Many Wonderful Uses

Chapter Thirteen

  
  
  
**Author's Note: Sorry about the Jan/Lucas stuff in this chapter and the last one. Jan will leave Lumi alone now, for the most part, I think. But it was either Jan or the fangirls and I figured Jan was the lesser of the two evils. Jan and Lucas are friends, that's all, despite Jan and her little crush on him. That crush is going to go away once I pair her up with someone else in later chapters. I won't say who I'm pairing her up with but I bet you could guess...**  
  
  
Nicole paid for her popcorn and started towards the entrance to the movie theatre. The movie had started about fifteen minutes ago but Nicole didn't seem to be in a hurry anymore, "I don't see why you had to make me wait in line with you while you got popcorn. The line was huge and the popcorn doesn't even look that good." Sami commented, eyeing the almost orange-tinted popcorn distastefully. Nicole grimaced and examined the popcorn.   
  
"You're right, it looks toxic." Nicole agreed, "But who said anything about eating it? While you're busy apologizing to Lucas, I can distract myself by throwing popcorn at the poor, unsuspecting movie-watchers if the movie is boring. It's actually great fun, I like seeing how much popcorn I can get stuck in people's hair."   
  
Sami stopped Nicole outside the movie theatre doors, "I'm not going to apologize to him right away. I'm going to wait for a while, to see what he does on his apparent 'date' with Jan."   
  
"Sami, you're testing him?" Nicole pretended to look shocked, "That could be a very bad idea. You know, if we go in there and those two are hot and heavy in the back of the theatre, I'm going to be torn between wanting to laugh my head off and attacking Lucas."   
  
"Shut up." Sami growled, "If you say anything else like that tonight, I will personally shove your head into that bag of lethal popcorn and suffocate you. I'm not testing him, I guess I just want to wait for a while, to get my nerve up."   
  
Nicole laughed, "Sami, the day you lose your nerve will be the day hell freezes over. You don't need to get your nerve up, it's already there."   
  
Giving Nicole a threatening look, Sami pushed the door to the movie theatre open and stepped inside. After her eyes adjusted to the dim light, her eyes probed the half-filled movie theatre for Lucas and Jan. Nicole came up beside Sami and spotted Lucas and Jan before Sami did.   
  
"At least they aren't in the back of the theatre." Nicole whispered to Sami, noting how Jan and Lucas had chosen seats near the middle of the theatre, "But then again, it's always better in the middle."   
  
Sami shuddered, "I'm not even going to _ask_ what you mean by that." she and Nicole began navigating their way into the row of seats five rows behind Lucas and Jan. Nicole craned her neck for a better view of Lucas and Jan, then gasped indignantly.   
  
"They already have popcorn. How did they get in here so fast? Didn't they have to suffer through the horrendous lines?" Nicole watched as Jan brought a handful of popcorn up to her mouth, "Wow, they're actually eating it. Maybe it doesn't taste so bad."   
  
After staring at the popcorn doubtfully for several minutes, Nicole pushed a piece of popcorn into her mouth and immediately hacked, "Oh, God, this stuff is rancid." Nicole continued choking while Sami watched her with evident irritation.   
  
"Are you always this noisy during movies?" Sami asked.   
  
"No." Nicole muttered, "But we missed part of the movie and once I miss some of the movie, I can't concentrate so there's no point in paying attention, so I am trying to distract myself."   
  
"Well, can you be a little quieter about it?" Sami hissed, "If you keep being so noisy, either Lucas or Jan is going to turn around and see us and that would be incredibly embarrassing,"   
  
"Fine." Nicole turned away from Sami and picked up another piece of popcorn. But instead of eating it, she flung it at the couple five rows in front of her. The popcorn bounced of Lucas' head but it didn't look like Lucas had felt a thing. Nicole smiled triumphantly.   
  
"Score!" another piece of popcorn was grasped between her fingers and her hand was poised to throw it, "Let's see if I can get it to stick in his hair." after a few unsuccessful attempts, Nicole gave up on Lucas and made Jan her new target. Sami grew bored of trying to concentrate on the movie and decided to join Nicole in throwing popcorn at Jan. Sami's first piece of thrown popcorn ended up trapped in Jan's dark curls. In addition to Nicole's successful hits, Jan now had at least five pieces of popcorn stuck in various places in her hair.   
  
After a few mores tosses, Nicole grew bored and elbowed Sami in the ribs, "You've waited long enough. Go apologize now. As your publicist, I _command_ you."   
  
"No, I don't feel like it yet." Sami replied.   
  
"Sami!" Nicole raised her voice a little louder than she should have and seconds later, she felt someone tapping her on the shoulder. She whirled around to see who was trying to get her attention. Despite the dim light, she could see that the man was about her age and that he was gorgeous. Ice blue eyes, that reminded her a lot of Brady's eyes, were boring into hers and annoyance was darkening his rugged features.   
  
"Could you keep it down?" he asked impatiently but Nicole was too busy looking for signs of another person who might be sitting with this man. When she didn't see one, she couldn't stop herself from wondering if he was single, "I am trying to watch this."   
  
Nicole flashed him an apologetic smile while her eyes gleamed flirtatiously, "I am so sorry. My friend can just be so infuriating sometimes. Here, take my popcorn as a... peace offering." she handed him the popcorn, glad to have the disgusting food off her hands.   
  
"Thanks." the man broke into a smile, a very nice smile, Nicole observed. She stood up, tugging Sami to her feet as well.   
  
"Me and my friend will just settle some things outside so we don't ruin the movie for you." Nicole navigated herself and Sami outside into the lobby. Nicole then led Sami into the bathroom, ignoring Sami's protests and complaints. Once they were inside the bathroom, Sami kicked Nicole angrily. Nicole flinched, the smacked Sami hard on the head in response. Before Sami could lash out at her again, Nicole spoke quickly.   
  
"Why won't you apologize to Lucas?" Nicole demanded, "I mean it, you have to go say sorry now, before Jan starts trying to feel him up!"   
  
"She wouldn't do that." Sami said uncertainly, "Can you just calm down? I want to wait a few more minutes."   
  
"Right, and then a few more minutes and then a few more minutes." Nicole shot back sarcastically, "Sami, I can't keep babying you like this. I have better things to do, namely, the guy who was sitting behind us in the movie theatre!"   
  
"You don't need to baby me. I can take of myse-" the bathroom door swung open and Jan stumbled into the bathroom, her face a bright shade of red. Sami and Nicole looked at her in confusion.   
  
"Why is your face all red?" Sami asked. Jan started at the sound of Sami's voice.   
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Nicole returned, "She and Lucas were having fun. I told you that you were going to end up waiting too long."   
  
Jan sniffled, "We were not having fun. In fact, I am ready to die from the humiliation I just endured!"   
  
Sami raised an eyebrow, "What happened?"   
  
Jan groaned and pressed her hand against her forehead, "Lucas and I were just watching the movie and I was thinking about how dark and romantic it was sitting in the theatre with him. Then, at the exact moment I put some popcorn in my mouth, Lucas leaned over and I thought he was going to kiss me. Then I- I choked on a piece of popcorn. And I made this noise, it sounded something like hhhhgtha or something and then he gave me this really weird look."   
  
"So, was he really trying to kiss you?" Sami prompted, her eyes widened with surprise.   
  
"No." Jan blushed an ever deeper shade of red, "He... asked me if he could have some popcorn." she finished in a small voice.   
  
"But I bet after he noticed all the bits of popcorn in your hair, he decided against it." Nicole spoke up with a knowing grin.   
  
"Popcorn in my hair?" Jan turned around to face the mirror. When she saw all the tiny bits of popcorn, she shrieked angrily and began picking them out. While pulling popcorn out of her hair, she glowered at Nicole and Sami.   
  
"And why are you two here? Were you trying to crash my date with Lucas? Because it didn't work."   
  
"No, you did a good enough job of that yourself." Nicole said lightly, "And since you're so embarrassed, you won't want to face him anymore tonight and I guess that means Sami will have to fill in for you."   
  
"No!" Jan screeched, "Lucas is my date. Mine!"   
  
"Jan, you made a fool out of yourself. Why don't you just go back to the hotel and get Fantasy Shawn and Lucas to comfort you? I'm sure you never make yourself look stupid in front of them."   
  
"You're right, I don't." Jan sighed in defeat and plucked out the last few bits of popcorn, "Have fun, Sami. I hope you don't choke on the popcorn like I did."   
  
Nicole smiled brightly as Jan exited the bathroom, "All right, now that she is gone, I can go seduce that guy in the movie theatre while you go make-up with Lucas. And if you try and argue with me again, I will have to hurt you."   
  
Muttering some rude things about what Nicole could go do to herself, Sami gave in and left the bathroom to go find Lucas. She reached the seat that had been previously occupied by Jan and sat down in it, waiting for Lucas to realize that she was there instead of Jan. He finally turned to look at her and did a double-take when he realized it was Sami.   
  
"Sami? What's going on?" he shifted in his seat and waited silently for Sami to answer. Sami sat without speaking for a moment, doing her best to swallow her pride. Finally, she spoke.   
  
"I followed you here so I could tell you that... I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't mean any of it, I sort of lost it, that's all. But I hope you can, um, forgive me." Sami didn't look at him, not wanting to see his expression after hearing her words. She felt Lucas take one of her hands and squeeze it gently. She finally looked up and saw the grateful expression on Lucas' face.   
  
"Don't worry about it. Things might have got a little out of hand but I forgive you." he whispered.   
  
Sami smiled, "You better forgive me, especially after you went and took psycho bitch out on a date."   
  
"Aw, Sami, you sound so-" Lucas stopped in mid-sentence. Sami realized he had been about to make a comment about her sounding jealous and then had stopped when he remembered their fight.   
  
Not letting go of his hand, Sami took a deep breath, "I was a _little_ jealous." she admitted, "I was lying when I said that you couldn't get woman to look at twice at you. And I guess I am sort of lucky that you're... I mean, that we're... you know, that I'm-"   
  
Lucas seemed to understand that Sami didn't know how to finish her line of thought. Without prompting her to finish speaking, he kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arm around her. Lapsing into silence, Sami leaned her head against Lucas' shoulder, wondering how much longer he would continue to let her keep her feelings for him to herself. 


	14. Embrace Your Inner Slut

Chapter Fourteen

  
  
  
Sami stood outside the men's locker room, her arms crossed over her chest as she waited impatiently for Lucas to emerge. It was the day after Lucas' movie date with Jan and Sami, Lucas, Jan and Nicole should have already been on a plane to their next destination. But after spending the night with the man from the movie theatre, Nicole had informed her three travelling companions that they would be staying in San Diego for another night or two. After thinking it over, Nicole had finally decided to cancel the publicity appearances that had been scheduled for the next few days, much to Sami's delight. Of course, with Nicole, there had been strings attached. Not that the deal Sami had made with Nicole was anything Sami couldn't handle.   
  
_"Here's the deal." Nicole had said to Sami once returning to the hotel spending several hours with the guy from the movie theatre, "This guy, Mark, is really amazing and I want to spend more time with him. We'll still make more than enough money even if we play hooky for a couple days. So, I'm willing to cancel two of your publicity appearances and stay here for a couple days on one condition."   
  
"Seriously? As long as I don't have to go out in front of crowds of people for a few days, I'm all for it. What's the condition?"   
  
"You have to seduce Lucas." Sami had opened her mouth to protest but Nicole had continued speaking before giving her the chance, "I mean really seduce him. Go all out. You have to, for the sake of this publicity campaign. I mean, you two are okay when you're pretending but if you want it to be more real, you have to stop pretending. But then again, when you kiss Lucas, you aren't pretending are you?"   
  
"Nicole, you have no idea what you're talking about." Sami had begun but Nicole once again cut her off.   
  
"Sami, I'm not stupid. I don't know what you're worried about, just go for it. He's definitely not going to reject you. Just... you know, embrace your inner slut."   
  
"My what?"   
  
"Your inner slut." Nicole had repeated, "Everyone has one. And it works out perfectly- Lucas is only a whore for you and you're only a slut for him. So, do we have an agreement?"_   
  
Sami had eventually given in and knew she had to keep her end of the deal. Besides, seducing Lucas wasn't the worst thing Sami could imagine doing. In fact, it would be fun. As long as she didn't get too carried away.   
  
The door to the locker room swung open, pulling Sami away from her thoughts. Three men came out the door, none of which were Lucas. Sami cleared her throat and the three of them turned to look at her curiously.   
  
"Is there another guy in there?" Sami asked, "My, er, friend said he'd be in the gym but he wasn't there so I figured he'd be getting ready to leave. He's got dark hair and brown eyes and-"   
  
One of the three men grinned at Sami, "You mean Lucas?" when Sami nodded, his grin widened, "Yeah, he's in there. He should be out in a couple minutes. He and my friend, Bruce, had a little competition to see who could do the most chin-ups. They're both so competitive, it took forever so now both of them are pretty sore."   
  
"Really? Who won?" Sami couldn't resist asking.   
  
"Lucas." another one of the men, who Sami assumed was Bruce, grumbled, "But it was pretty close. I wouldn't have won, except I didn't." his friends laughed at the perturbed expression on Bruce's face.   
  
The last man turned to Sami, giving her a knowing look, "Lucas is the only one in there right now." he informed Sami, "In case you wanted to go in there and um..." he let his sentence trail off suggestively, then smirked at her, "I had sex in a locker room once. It was really hot."   
  
Sami felt a warm blush spread over her face. The man had only said a few sentences to her and already he reminded her of a male version of Nicole, "I think I'll just wait out here." she replied, doing her best to avoid eye contact with all three men. All of the men began walking away and once they were out of eyesight, Sami decided to take the third man's advice. She looked around quickly to see if anyone was watching and when she didn't see anyone, she slipped inside the locker room.   
  
Her eyes skimmed the room for Lucas and she was immediately drawn to him. He was standing next to a row of lockers, pulling on a pair of jeans over dark blue boxers. Sami coughed loudly and when Lucas noticed Sami, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.   
  
"The last time I checked, this was the men's locker room." Lucas remarked, pulling his shirt out of one of the lockers, "So, why are you in here?"   
  
Sami smiled winningly as she made her way over to him, "Since when do I play by the rules? Besides, the men's locker room is so much more enjoyable than the women's." she reached Lucas and slid her hands over his still bare shoulders, giving them a small squeeze, "I heard you beat that guy at a chin-up contest. That must have been so tiring. Do you want me to work out all the... kinks for you?"   
  
Lucas turned around and Sami noticed the frown of confusion lining his features, "Sami, are you feeling okay?"   
  
"I'm feeling fine." Sami said brightly, taking her hands off of him. She decided not to push things too far right away because it looked like Lucas could already tell that she wasn't acting like herself, "Now, hurry up and get dressed because I'm taking you to dinner."   
  
"Reeeeaaallllyyyy?" Lucas smirked at Sami, "Like, on a date?"   
  
"No, not a date." Sami shot back, rolling her eyes, "I am telling you that you are coming to dinner with me, not asking you, so it isn't a date. And you're not going to get out of it, so don't even try to argue."   
  
"I wasn't going to." Lucas responded easily, pulling on his shirt, "Just let me put away my clothes and then we can go."   
  
  
Once Sami and Lucas were seated inside the restaurant in the hotel, Sami flipped through her menu unenthusiastically, "I don't know what to order." she mumbled, then turned to her right to see what the couple next to her had ordered. The only thing either of them had on their plates that looked somewhat appetizing was the steak the man was eating. Throwing her menu down on the table, she smiled triumphantly, "I'm going to get steak."   
  
A waitress seemed to materialize out of nowhere, holding a pad of paper, "And how would you like your steak?"   
  
"Well done, please." the waitress made a notation on her paper, then turned her attention to Lucas.   
  
"Have you decided what you're going to order yet?" she asked.   
  
Lucas handed her his menu, "I'll have the steak too, I guess. But make mine medium rare."   
  
"That's right." Sami beamed up at the waitress, "Because Lucas likes a little blood, if you know what I mean." Lucas kicked her playfully under the table and Sami kicked him back. After a few minutes of kicking each other under the table, Sami grew bored and decided to try something new. She slipped one foot out of her sandal and began rubbing her way up Lucas' left leg. Lucas jerked his head up to look at her in shock. His eyes widened even more when she continued to move up his leg with her foot.   
  
"Sami." he hissed, grinding his teeth together nervously. Sami smiled innocently at him, her bare foot rubbing light circles on his upper thigh. He could feel his reaction to her touch straining against the fly of his jeans and he briefly wondered if it was possible to die this way. So much blood rushing to one place, with no way to relieve himself of the problem. At least the way their booth was angled, no one could see what Sami was doing underneath the table. Her foot moved forward, pressing against the fly of his pants and he gripped his fork in one hand so slightly he could feel the indent it was creating.   
  
"Is something wrong?" Sami asked, "Because from the feel of things, you don't seem to dislike what I'm doing that much." Sami opened her mouth to say something else but she noticed Nicole and Jan heading towards herself and Lucas. She slipped her foot back down to the ground and pushed her foot back into the sandal. Nicole and Jan reached their table and didn't seem to notice the tense expression on Lucas' face.   
  
"Sami, go sit by Lucas." Nicole ordered, "I don't want to sit by him and neither does Jan." before Jan could defend herself, Nicole pushed Jan into the side of the booth that Sami had vacated. Nicole winked at Sami, watching as Sami slid other seat, sitting extremely close to Lucas. Nicole had the distinct impression that the deal she had made with Sami had been going rather nicely before she and Jan showed up. Inwardly cursing herself for showing up at the wrong time, she told herself that she would make up for getting in their way later.   
  
Jan squirmed excitedly in the booth. Nicole watched the girl with disgust, once again asking herself if there was a possibility of Jan suffering from ADD, "Are you two going to be finished soon? Because Nicole and I are going to go this club and Mark is going to be there. I didn't get to see him yet so I'm really excited. You guys should come. It would be- woops, sorry about that, Lucas." Jan had been waving her hands around dramatically and in the process, she had knocked over Lucas' glass of water, causing water to spill into Lucas' lap. Lucas reached for some napkins but Sami was quicker and grabbed a handful of napkins before Lucas did.   
  
"Don't worry about it, Lucas." Sami murmured, "I can take care of that for you."   
  
She began wiping the spilled water in his lap, then looked up at Nicole, her eyes twinkling mischievously, "Isn't this a game one of the girls in your book played? She spilled something on a guy's lap and then she would clean it up." Nicole nodded, watching as Lucas' jaw clenched.   
  
Sami continued brushing the napkins against Lucas' pants, feeling the hardness of his arousal press against her adventurous hand. Lucas leaned over slightly and whispered against her ear, "You are going to pay for this once we get back to our hotel room."   
  
Sami's heart pounded furiously as she thought of all the ways Lucas could end up 'punishing' her. She let out a short, teasing giggle, "Promises, promises." she taunted him quietly, "Does that mean you'll take me back to the hotel room and whip me with your belt?"   
  
Lucas almost choked on her brazen words, "I think you'd enjoy that too much." he rasped. He looked away from her and realized that Jan and Nicole were staring at him and Sami like they were insane. He shook his head at Sami, who simply smiled again in return. If things played out the way Sami hoped they would, it was going to be a very eventful night for both her and Lucas. 


	15. She's Taken

Chapter Fifteen

  
  
  
Loud music pulsated through the air as Lucas scanned the crowded club for signs of Sami. After several minutes of looking for her through the large crowds of people, he began making his way over to Nicole, who was sitting at the counter of the bar with a blond man. Once he reached Nicole, he tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around to face Lucas, her face revealing her irritation towards him.   
  
"What?" she mouthed, her voice unable to be heard over the music. Her eyes glittered impatiently, giving Lucas a signal that he should talk fast. The blond man frowned at Lucas, placing a protective hand on Nicole's shoulder. _Okay, you can ease up on the death grip, caveman_, Lucas thought to himself, taking an immediate disliking to the man, _You can keep turbo-bitch, I don't want to risk the STD's that probably come in that package. And to think I ever married her._   
  
"Do you know where Sami is?" Lucas yelled over the music. Nicole did a quick once-over of the room with her eyes, then pointed towards a group of people. Lucas turned to see who Nicole was pointing and saw Jan and Sami standing in the middle of a crowd of men. Nodding curtly at Nicole and her friend, Lucas headed over to the crowd. Once he got there, he watched Sami take a sip of a drink that looked very alcoholic while Jan chugged back a similar looking drink. The attention of the men seemed almost equally divided between Jan and Sami. Jan seemed to be basking in all the attention while Sami appeared to be brushing it off, paying more attention to her drink that anything else, Lucas observed. Despite the fact he was relieved that Sami wasn't responding to the plays were making for her, he couldn't brush off the feeling of anger he felt when the men threw Sami appraising looks. Only _he_ was allowed to do that.   
  
He stood on the outside of the small half-circle Sami, Jan and the men had formed for a few moments. But he finally stepped in to intervene when the man standing closest to Sami slung his arm around her shoulder and tried to kiss her. Lucas pushed past several of the men and pushed the man's arm off Sami roughly. Sami turned to look at Lucas with a dazed expression on her face as Lucas' arm snaked around to encircle her waist.   
  
"Screw off, man, she's taken." Lucas announced, glaring at the now indignant man. The four men that had surrounded Jan and Sami all stepped towards Lucas, matching scowls on each of their their faces. Lucas refused to back down under the angry stares of the men, trying to brush aside the fact that he was seriously outnumbered. Jan had been watching all this and stepped in front of the men.   
  
"Aw, don't do anything silly. Look at that face. At that body. You wouldn't want to mess that up, would you?" Jan protested, turning to smile drunkenly at Lucas, "He's my replacement for my Shawn and I can't have him looking all roughed up, can I?"   
  
"I don't know." the man yelled back at Jan, "He doesn't seem like a very nice guy. He doesn't even want to share Lyric with us. Is that fair?"   
  
Lucas clenched his fists, resisting the urge to slam his fist into the man's face. He knew if he did that, all of the men would gang up on him and he didn't want to deal with that tonight.   
  
"She's not a... a toy, you asshole." Lucas sputtered, "I can't share her, she has a choice. She gets to pick who she wants to be with and I certainly don't think she wants to be with you. Right, Sami?" Lucas turned to Sami for confirmation.   
  
Sami lurched a step forward, "Mm, I don't mind if you share me. Group orgy, yummy." she took another drink of whatever was in her hand to punctuate her sentence.   
  
One of the men snickered, "Lyric, if it was you and Jan here, I could go for it. But not with this jerk." he nodded his head in Lucas' direction, then pulled a piece of paper out of his jacket, "Here's my number, sweetheart. In case you change your mind."   
  
"She. Won't. So. Fuck. Off." each word came out of Lucas' mouth with harsh finality. He snatched the paper out of the man's hand and shredded it into tiny pieces. The man looked ready to snap at Lucas but he stopped himself and focussed on something behind Lucas. Lucas felt a sharp yank on his arm and turned to see an agitated Nicole standing behind him.   
  
"Can we leave now?" Nicole asked, throwing a quick look behind her. Lucas noticed the man she had been sitting with still sitting at the bar, staring at the counter.   
  
"Sure, I think that's a great idea." Lucas agreed, giving the men a parting scowl. Jan followed behind Sami, Lucas and Nicole, whining about how they always spoiled her fun.   
  
Once they were outside in the parking lot, Sami giggled, "Oops, they forgot to take my drink away. I've still got it." she took another sip as she tagged along behind Jan to their rental car. Lucas looked at the glass suspiciously.   
  
"Where did you get that?" he asked her.   
  
Sami grinned at him, "The nice men inside got drinks for Jan and I. Wasn't that nice of them?"   
  
"They what?" Lucas exploded, taking the drinks Sami and Jan were carrying away from them. He set the glasses on the ground and looked at the two women in shock, "How could you accept drinks from them? Do you have any idea what was probably in those drinks? They probably just wanted to take you home and-" he rubbed his forehead tiredly, ducking into the driver's seat of the car. Sami got into the passenger's side door while Nicole and Jan piled into the back.   
  
"It's not their fault." Nicole spoke up grumpily, "They were already a little drunk from the drinks we got back at the restaurant. Oh, except Jan usually does stupid things so maybe it is kind of her fault."   
  
"I know it wasn't Sami's fault." Lucas said, slowly calming down. Before starting the car, he gave Sami a small kiss on her cheek, "She's just too damn beautiful for her own good." the admiration in his voice was completely unconcealed.   
  
"Please, someone just strangle me now so I don't have to listen to him anymore." Nicole muttered, "Jan, I wasn't serious, get away from me."   
  
"What happened to you?" Lucas demanded, driving out of the parking lot, "Did Mark ditch you?"   
  
"Damn Mark to hell." Nicole slammed her hand down on the armrest, "We were having such a good time and then he tells me that he's married! He was only spending time with me to get back at his wife for cheating on him. Can you imagine the nerve?"   
  
"That sounds kind of familiar though, doesn't it, Nicole?" Lucas retorted.   
  
"What are you talking about?"   
  
"Well, you married too, right?" Lucas looked in the review mirror, meeting Nicole's blank stare.   
  
"Married?" Nicole repeated, sitting dumbstruck for a few seconds, "Oh, I forgot about Victor. He's just so easy to forgot, I don't really consider him my husband anymore."   
  
Lucas couldn't resist chuckling at her remark, "Only you would forget that you have a husband, Nicole, only you."   
  
  
Ten minutes after returning to their hotel room, Sami crawled underneath the blankets of the bed and buried her head underneath the covers. Lucas had just finished stripping down to his boxers and stared at the lump underneath the blankets in confusion.   
  
"What are you doing?" Lucas asked her. Sami peeked out from underneath the blankets, squinting at him.   
  
"Can you turn the lights off, please?" she responded in a small voice, "The lights are making my eyes go ba-boom, ba-boom."   
  
Lucas nodded and went over to the lights. After flicking them off, he made his way over to the bed. In the dim light of the room, he could see Sami extend her arms out to him.   
  
"Come here, teddy bear." she cooed. Lucas half-winced, half smirked at the nickname she had used on him for the second time. He crawled in next to Sami and her arms immediately wrapped around him. Pressing her face against his stomach, she sighed happily.   
  
"See, you're just like a teddy bear, you're all cuddly and stuff." she turned her head slightly and laughed, "Hey, it's kind of fun to listen to your digestive system. It sounds all rumbly... and stuff..." her voice trailed off and her breathing levelled out. Lucas shook his head at Sami's words, gently brushing his hand up and down the length of her arm, slowly drifting off to sleep.   
  
Outside the door to Sami and Lucas' hotel room, Nicole stomped her foot in outrage. Beside her stood Jan, who was still quite drunk.   
  
"There's no noise." Nicole muttered in disgust, "They're not doing anything. God, I got Sami drunk so she would sleep with Lucas. But noooooo, it looks like Lucas is a freeze too. What is wrong with these people?"   
  
"Maybe they're tired." Jan said sleepily, "Like mmmeeeee."   
  
"Well, if they aren't going to use my subtle hints to go to bed together, I'll just have to stop being subtle." Nicole murmured, "And Jan, you are going to help me get them together. Right?" Nicole noticed Jan lying on the floor, appearing to be asleep. Groaning, Nicole began dragging Jan across the hall to their hotel room, trying to think up a way to get Lucas and Sami together. 


	16. Positively Kinky

Chapter Sixteen

  
  
  
Nicole avoided eye contact with Lucas and Sami, keeping her eyes trained on the fork Jan was tapping nervously against her plate. Jan had been a nervous wreck all evening while she waited for phase one of their plan to be put into action. Nicole could tell that Sami and Lucas knew there was something wrong with Jan and if Nicole hadn't been so sure that the plan she and Jan had created was foolproof, she might have been worried. But at least Nicole was managing to act relatively normal.   
  
Jan had come up with the main idea for the plan but Nicole had been the one who had fabricated the details and set everything up. She had managed to convince Lucas and Sami to have dinner with her and Jan, which was one of the hardest parts of getting their plan to work. The only thing that had been harder had been bribing one of the workers at the hotel to go along with the plan. She had picked out the best looking male worker she could find and had filled him in on what she wanted him to do. He had been reluctant at first but Nicole had managed to 'talk' him into it. It was amazing what people would do for money.   
  
She checked her watch again, then looked up to see if the waiter she had hired was there. She noticed him walking towards their table, carrying a large plate of spaghetti. He gave her a little wink and Nicole had to bite back a smile. Keeping a completely straight face, she continued talking to Sami and Lucas as if nothing as going on. Jan was almost completely silent. Jan had told Nicole that she was worried about Lucas hating her if they got caught carrying out their plan. _He better not hate us_, Nicole thought to herself, _We're the reason he's going to get some tonight._   
  
The waiter had almost passed Nicole's table when he pretended to trip. His hands wind-milled around wildly but he still managed to make the plate of spaghetti hit Lucas square on the top of the head. Nicole began laughing almost immediately at the sight of Lucas covered in red spaghetti sauce and noodles and even Jan was giggling nervously. Sami stared at Lucas in shock for a moment, then also burst out laughing. Lucas whirled around to see what had happened and the waiter smiled apologetically.   
  
"I'm sorry about that." the waiter did everything he could to stop himself from looking at Nicole. He knew if he looked at her, he would start laughing too and that wouldn't look very good. He picked up the now empty plate off the ground and handed Lucas some napkins. Lucas took the napkins from him and tried wiping up some of the mess. Nicole stopped laughing and cleared her throat.   
  
"Lucas, it's pointless to even try and clean yourself up. It's a complete waste of time, why don't you just go back upstairs and take a shower?" she suggested.   
  
"You're right." Lucas agreed, standing up and trying to brush off the fact that half of the people in the restaurant were either staring or laughing at him. The waiter continued to try and look contrite but it was getting increasingly difficult.   
  
"I really am sorry." the waiter said again, "If there's anything I can do to make it up to you-"   
  
"Don't worry about it." Lucas interrupted, wiping off some of the noodles and sauce, "I'll be fine."   
  
Lucas began walking away and Jan stopped laughing. Throwing a tense look in Nicole's direction, Jan fumbled for something in her pocket. She set off her cell phone, which had been programmed to call Nicole's cell phone. As soon as her phone began ringing, Nicole took it out of her purse and answered it.   
  
"Hello?" Nicole pretended to be talking to someone on the other line, "I forgot to do what? Oh, no, I can't believe I didn't get around to doing that. I'm sorry, I'll handle it write away."   
  
Once Nicole hung up the phone, Sami watched Nicole curiously, "What's going on?"   
  
Nicole began gathering up her things, "I forgot to fill out some very important paperwork for the publicity campaign. I have to get some things together and fax it to my agent right away. Would you mind helping me, Jan?" Jan followed Nicole's lead and stood up.   
  
"Sure, I don't mind. See you later, Sami." without giving Sami a chance to reply, Jan and Nicole hurried away. Jan let out a sigh of relief as soon as they stepped inside the elevator.   
  
"I knew we could do it." Jan said triumphantly, "This is too perfect."   
  
Nicole snorted, "Please, Jan. You looked like you were going to pass out the entire evening, you were so nervous. You are such a liar."   
  
"I did too know it was going to work." Jan stuck out her chin stubbornly, "It was obvious that nothing could go wrong because... well, I have experience with getting people into showers for my own personal reasons. I did the same thing with Chloe."   
  
The elevator stopped on the seventh floor and Nicole began hurrying towards her hotel room. She pushed open the door and quickly grabbed the basket she had left lying by the entrance to the room. Jan watched her leave the room in record time and move across the hall with an amused smile on her face.   
  
"What's the hurry?" Jan asked, "Lucas is going to be in there for a while."   
  
"So?" Nicole snapped, letting the basket rest on her hip while she tried the door. She sighed with disgust when she realized it was locked and reached into her pocket for the extra key she had to Lucas and Sami's hotel room. Shoving the basket into Jan's arms, Nicole unlocked the door and then slowly slid it open a tiny slit. Peering through the tiny crack, Nicole looked for signs of Lucas. When she didn't see him and heard the running water in the bathroom, Nicole crept inside the room, pulling Jan along with her.   
  
"We have to be quiet. We don't want to Lucas to hear us." without realizing what she was doing, Nicole hunched over and continued sneaking over to the bathroom door. Jan stood next to the door, shaking with silent laughter. Nicole frowned at her accomplice, "What are you laughing at?"   
  
"You look like a such a retard when you're trying to play secret agent or whatever the hell you're doing." Jan whispered, walking over to the bathroom door. Nicole smacked Jan in the arm, then snatched the basket away from Jan and set it down on the floor. She pulled two items out of the basket and handed one of them to Jan.   
  
"We can't let him see them." Nicole informed Jan, who rolled her eyes.   
  
"I _know_, Nicole. We've been through this already." Jan shot back.   
  
"Yeah, well, I have to make sure you don't mess this up." Nicole returned, "I want to get this over with as quickly as possibly. We still get to spend the rest of the night here and I intend to find a hot, unmarried man tonight and enjoy myself. Maybe I could track down that waiter..."   
  
A few minutes later, the water turned off and Nicole stiffened. She reached for the door knob, then hesitated, "Maybe we should wait a couple minutes. You never know, he could be _naked_."   
  
"Who cares? It certainly wouldn't be too hard on the eyes and besides, you used to be married to the guy, it's nothing you haven't seen before." Jan reasoned.   
  
Nicole tilted her head and grinned knowingly, "You wanted to see him naked, didn't you? That's why you came up with this particular plan, so you would have the chance."   
  
"That's not true." Jan shrieked, looking embarrassed at the suggestion, "I'm too innocent to even consider those kinds of things."   
  
"Ha!" before Nicole could continue tormenting her, Jan turned the doorknob herself, relieved to find it was unlocked. Nicole followed Jan inside and spotted Lucas still standing inside the bathtub, thankfully sporting a towel around his waist. His eyes widened when he saw Nicole and Jan.   
  
"What are you doing in here?" he demanded, his eyes flickering warily in Jan's direction every few seconds.   
  
"We've got a surprise for you." Nicole told him, "And since you're not going to get out of it, I think it would be better if you didn't try to fight us."   
  
"Okay, then." Lucas tried to step out of the bathroom but Nicole blocked his path. When he tried to push past her, she grabbed his arm and raised it above his head. He tried to pull his arm away from her and she squealed an objection.   
  
"Lucas, you bastard! I told you not to fight us, we're doing you a _favour_. Jan, help me out here." Jan grabbed the same arm as Nicole, throwing her set of handcuffs to the ground. After struggling with Lucas for a few minutes, they finally managed to handcuff his arm to the shower rod. Picking up the other set of handcuffs, Nicole and Jan still had a little bit of a problem getting Lucas' other arm shackled to the shower rod but it wasn't as hard as the first arm had been. Once they finished, Jan and Nicole stepped back, breathing heavily.   
  
Lucas glared at Nicole, "This was your idea, wasn't it? It is not even the slightest bit funny, so un-handcuff me _now_."   
  
"Oh, I don't think you'll be laughing once you get your surprise." Nicole commented, "And for the record, this was Jan's idea."   
  
"Oh, God." Lucas groaned yanking on the handcuffs frantically. The shower rod rattled a little bit but Lucas couldn't free himself. Groaning again, he rattled the handcuffs with annoyance, "You can take your surprise and shove it up your ass." he spat out, "Jan, you're a nice person but I don't feel that way about you."   
  
Jan's mouth dropped open in shock. Nicole had retrieved the basket and was arranging things on the bathroom counter, still trying to finish everything as quickly as possible.   
  
"You're an awful person." Jan pouted, "We went out of our way to help you and Sami get together and you just go and jump to conclusions."   
  
Lucas looked a little less freaked out at the mention on Sami, "What do you mean?" he asked. Nicole ignored him and stepped back to look at the job she and Jan had done. She gave a little nod of satisfaction after looking him over.   
  
"You know, if you were Brady, you would present a very pretty picture." Nicole decided.   
  
"That's an understatement." Jan murmured, remembering how many times Shawn and been in this position in her fantasies. Lucas' hand were handcuffed above his head and the struggle he had just had with Nicole and Jan had caused his already low-slung towel to fall even lower, revealing a broad expanse of tanned skin. Yeah, Sami definitely owed her and Nicole big time, "He looks positively kinky."   
  
"Er, if you say so." Nicole gave Lucas once last brief glance, "Now, we're just going to go get Sami. Don't go anywhere."   
  
"I wasn't planning on it." Lucas called after Nicole, who had already left the bathroom. She and Jan found Sami back downstairs, sitting at the table they had left her at.   
  
"Sami, you have to come back upstairs to your hotel room right now." Jan did her best to look horrified when she spoke to Sami.   
  
"Why? What's wrong?" Sami asked.   
  
"It's Lucas." Nicole jumped in, trying to hold back from breaking into a smile, "He's, ah, in trouble. You have to go... help him."   
  
"What happened?" Sami asked, getting to her feet, her eyes shining with worry.   
  
"I can't go into it here." Nicole lowered her voice, "But it's serious. He really needs you right now."   
  
"Fine. Let's go." Sami said shortly, leaving some money on the table. Nicole couldn't believe how easy it had been to convince Sami to follow her and Jan back to the hotel room. Sami wasn't usually so gullible. But then again, when it came to Lucas, Sami obviously lost her head quite frequently. Sami was practically running back to the hotel room, Nicole observed.   
  
Once inside the room, Sami turned to Nicole, her expression panicky, "Where is he?"   
  
"He's in the bathroom." Jan whispered, trying to sound scared. Sami spun around and practically flew into the bathroom. Jan and Nicole followed behind her. Before Sami could figure out what was going on, Nicole and Jan shut the door, then moved a large dresser in front of the door. Sighing with relief when the two of them finally managed to move the heavy dresser in front of the door, Nicole sat down on the bed, listening to Sami bang on the door furiously, screaming at Jan and Nicole to let her out.   
  
"Well, that was fun." Nicole said sarcastically, "But now that we're finished, I think I'll go find out what that waiter is doing once he gets off work." 


	17. Mistress Sami

Chapter Seventeen

  
  
**Author's Note: This chapter is sexually explicit so once again, if you are bothered by this, please wait for chapter eighteen.**

Sami stopped yelling and banging on the door when she heard the sound of the retreating footsteps outside the bathroom door. Silently, she listened as Nicole and Jan's voices became increasingly low and blurred, then heard the sound of the hotel room door shutting with finality. Sami pressed her head against the door, allowing her breathing to level out. She had a feeling that Jan and Nicole weren't planning on letting her out at all tonight and she decided that might not be a bad thing.   
  
She had only gotten a brief glance of Lucas before she had started banging on the door. But now that she had regained her composure, she slowly turned around and did a thorough survey of him. Her eyes trailed down the thick, muscular arms that were raised above his head, flickered over his damp, dishevelled hair and dark eyes, then lowered her eyes to his chest. The towel had dropped so low, it barely covered anything. Biting her lower lip as she eyed his torso and she could almost feel her fingers sliding along that moist, bronzed skin. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt like this about someone. When she looked at him, she could feel her head clouding over with mindless desire. And now they were trapped in this bathroom together, neither one of them having any chance of getting out. And suddenly, Sami realized that this made Jan and Nicole her new best friends. Aside from Lucas, of course.   
  
Lucas cleared his throat, "I, uh, I don't think they're planning on letting us out anytime tonight." he muttered, watching her face to see what her reaction would be. Sami tried to pull her thoughts away from the tantalizing body in front of her and all the wicked things she had been thinking about doing to it as she stepped towards him. Finally, her legs were pressed against the outside of the bathtub, standing so close to Lucas she had tilt her head up to meet his gaze. Giving him a devilish smile, she used one finger to trace a line along the ridged muscles of his chest.   
  
"Mm, I think that was a very bad thing for them to do." Sami purred, continuing to caress him lightly, "How ever am I going to control myself now that I'm locked in a room with poor, helpless, hand-cuffed Lucas?"   
  
Lucas shifted uncomfortably, causing his towel to slip about another centimeter down from his hips. Sami watched the towel, silently willing it to slip down just another inch or two, "I wish they hadn't left me in this position. I have lost all feelings in my arms."   
  
Sami murmured sympathetically, "It might be painful for you but you look... incredible." she finished honestly, observing the look of surprise on his face at her words, "Lucas, I..." _I want you_, inwardly, she finished the sentence but her throat felt constricted and she couldn't speak. So, instead of trying to strain to get the words out, she stepped inside the bathtub, pressing her body flush against Lucas'. Their mouths collided with what felt like an explosion and Sami moved her hands between the practically non-existent space between herself and Lucas to caress his chest roughly, wanting to feel every inch of his bared skin.   
  
The sparks set off in Sami as she kissed Lucas were white-hot and electric. She knew what she was doing was wrong. She wanted to be with Lucas when her feelings for him were so confusing. She knew she wanted him but other than that, she didn't know exactly where Lucas stood with her. But he was addictive. And the awful thing was, she knew she _could_ control herself is she really tried. But tonight, Sami didn't want to try. She wanted to ignore all the possible repercussions and just be with him. Her tongue pushed it's way past his lips, deepening the kiss, coaxing him into bringing the kiss into a hungry, frenzied one, fueling her lust for him. Her tongue swirled around his, desperate to taste him.   
  
Feeling her head begin to spin from lack of oxygen, she nibbled on his lower lip one last time before dragging herself away to draw deep breaths of air into her lungs. She didn't miss the small groan of disappointment Lucas uttered and she reached up to run her fingers through the thick dampness of his hair.   
  
"Do you have any idea how many times I have dreamed about this?" Sami asked, her voice still breathless and shaky. Lucas looked up at her, his eyes glazed over with smoldering desire.   
  
"About what?"   
  
"Having you completely at my mercy." she whispered, laughing lightly, "Even when we were enemies, I wanted to have complete control over you, so I could hurt you. But now it's different. I'm not going to hurt you tonight. Much." she added cheekily, watching his eyebrows shoot up questioningly.   
  
She nipped gently at his throat before raising her head to whisper in his ear, "I want to hear you beg for me. I want you to scream my name, I want to feel you going absolutely crazy." the whispers were throaty and suggestive. Sami could hear Lucas' breath catch as she spoke, as she teased him, seduced him with her words. Her hands started at his waist, before trailing up to his rib-cage and then his shoulders. He was hot and all over, his body tense and almost shaking.   
  
"Sami..." he groaned, his muscles stiffening further as her hands began to stroke his back, her touch almost feather-light, tantalizing him. At the sound of his voice, she stopped in mid-stroke.   
  
"You can scream my name later." she told him, her smiling teasing, "For now, you can call me... mistress."   
  
He nodded silently, "I want to hear you say it." she informed him, her hands hovering above his back as she waited for his response.   
  
"Sorry, mistress." he muttered. Sami watched delightedly as he struggled with the handcuffs. She knew she was getting to him. He didn't like the idea of her being in control. But she would convert him. By the end of the night, he wouldn't mind a bit. Her lips parted slightly as she pressed her mouth against his again, capturing his bottom lip between her teeth and biting down on it slightly. Then, she slipped her tongue instead his mouth, reacquainting herself with the warm silkiness, battling for dominance with him as their tongues tangled together. One of her hands crept up his arm and interlocked with the hands he had resting on the shower rod while her other hand held his chin, angling his head for a better position. The kiss was domineering and feeling the complete control she had over Lucas caused the throbbing in her groin to increase. After running her tongue along his teeth, her tongue continued probing inside his mouth, wanting to memorize every part of the moist depths.   
  
When they separated again, Sami remembered the array of things that had been lying on the bathroom counter. Stepping out of the bathtub, she picked up a can of chocolate mousse, "What's all this?"   
  
Lucas had been panting harshly but still somehow managed to find his voice, "Nicole left it here." he answered, "I think she wanted us to use it."   
  
Sami carried the can back into the bathtub with her, "Did she? Well, I can't let it go to waste, now can I?" she shook the can slightly before opening it. She sprayed a generous amount on her fingers, then began making lines of chocolate mousse criss-cross along Lucas' chest, "You have the most amazing skin." she murmured, running her palm along his chest, "It's so smooth and perfect." she pressed down on the nozzle on the pressurized can of chocolate mousse and squirted more liberal amounts of it on his chest. Her eyes dropped down to the towel, which was still barely intact. In an agonizingly slow motion, Sami pulled apart the knot in the towel, before letting the towel fall to the ground completely. Looking down at his rigid length, Sami darted her tongue out to moisten her lower lip, while Lucas unconsciously mirrored the movement.   
  
Sami moved her hand down to stroke him boldly, gripping him firmly as she slid along every inch of hot, hard flesh. After a thorough exploration of his pulsing member, Sami sprayed a thick, decadent line of chocolate mousse along his shaft, then used one hand to spread it around his entire length. Once she had finished that, she licked her hand clean of the chocolate sweetness, while Lucas watched in disbelief. She set the can of mousse down on the floor beside the bathtub and turned back around to look at Lucas expectantly.   
  
"What do you want me to do, Lucas?" her voice revealed to Lucas that she knew exactly what he wanted but was going to make him voice his desires out loud.   
  
He mumbled something incoherent. Sami shook her head, running her fingers along his lips, "I can't hear you."   
  
He looked up at her, his eyes flashing with both indignance and lust, "Lick me. Mistress, please." smirking at him, Sami gave in and lowered her mouth to his decorated skin.   
  
Her tongue lapped at the chocolate mouse along his collarbone first, then her mouth moved lower, hungry and openmouthed as laved his chest clean. Her mouth found his left nipple and after sucking the chocolate mousse off of it, her tongue flicked the tip of it lightly. Lucas groaned throatily and Sami continued to lick him clean at a slow, languid pace. She was saving the best part of him for last and she knew that was killing him.   
  
"Sami, I mean, m-mistress, lick me." he repeated desperately. Sami pulled her mouth off his skin and gave him a devilish smile.   
  
"I _am_ licking you." Sami retorted.   
  
"Sami... you know what I mean." Lucas' voice was threatening but Sami ignored the tone.   
  
"No, I don't. Where do you want me to lick you?" Sami asked innocently.   
  
"I can't take this much longer." the scratchy, husky sound of his voice made Sami's body quiver with anticipation, "Lick my dick."   
  
Sami chuckled, "Wow, that was one creative rhyme, Lucas. You should be a poet."   
  
"Mistress, I beg of you." Lucas pleaded. Sami stopped laughing and nodded.   
  
"I will, Lucas. I'm just taking my time." she continued tonguing away each bit of mousse, the chocolate confection warmed by Lucas' skin. She reached his navel and dipped her tongue in to capture the chocolate substance. Her mouth caressed his abdomen, continuing to wash away each bit of mousse she had applied to his skin, leaving trails of moisture in her wake. Dropping down to her knees, she paused in front of his dick and looked up at him.   
  
"You know what I just realized? You didn't say the magic word." Sami cooed, her voice as smooth as velvet.   
  
"Sami, _please_." he practically shouted, rattling the handcuffs above his head in frustration.   
  
"Okay." Sami said shortly but paused again, "What was it you wanted me to do again?"   
  
"You know what I want, Sami." his voice bordered on complete desperation, "Don't make me wait any longer."   
  
Actually taking pity on him, Sami finally licked a line from the tip of his shaft to the base, then moved down to the sides of his throbbing cock, skillfully removing every bit of mousse with the tip of her tongue. The substance dissolved on her tongue, like a chocolate whipped cream. Her tongue lapped away the mousse from the underside of his length , then spiraled around the head. Her mouth then encircled him, applying suction to his swollen member in order to get rid of the last bits of chocolate mousse. Lucas moaned above her.   
  
"Shit, Sami, please..." he panted with desperation. Sami slid her mouth off of his still erect penis with an audible sucking sound.   
  
"Please what?" she asked, this time genuinely unsure of what he wanted.   
  
He rattled the handcuffs angrily as she got to her feet, "Get these things off of me. I want-" he swallowed hard, his gaze hot and lustful, "I want to touch you." he finished in a near whisper. Sami decided she had tortured him long enough and got out of the bathtub, going over to the counter to find a hair pin so that she could pick the lock. But she stopped in mid-search when she saw that Nicole had left a small key lying on the counter as well. _Those two thought of everything_, Sami realized, picking up the key. She used the key to unlock both sets of handcuffs and Lucas shook his hands free of the restraints, letting the handcuffs fall in the bathtub. As soon as Sami had stepped back into the tub with him, Lucas attacked her like a predatory animal. His mouth fed off hers, heated and openmouthed, while his hands ran a determined path down her body. He lifted the bottom of her shirt and tugged it upwards. Sami lifted her arms, helping him remove the shirt. Once the shirt was gone, his hands tore at the clasp to her bra. Snapping it open, he yanked it off of her body.   
  
Now that her chest was bared, Lucas pressed her up against him, the feeling of her soft swells and erect nipples pressed against him making him moan. In between the space of fiery kisses, Sami breathed heavily, grinding her body against Lucas'. Lucas moaned again, his hands pushing the skirt off of her hips and down to her ankles. Her panties followed suit and Sami kicked both of them aside. Lucas stepped away from her slightly, his eyes taking in the sight of her naked and aroused body. He used the back of his knuckle to circle one pebbled nipple.   
  
"God, you're beautiful." he rasped, his hand moving down her stomach before reaching her wet mound to caress her intimately. Sami whimpered when his fingers slipped inside her, probing deep into her sheath. Her whimpering increased as he delved deeper into her wetness, then almost burst into tears with disappointment when he withdrew his fingers suddenly.   
  
"Lucas..." her voice trailed off when she saw the wicked grin on his face.   
  
"Tell me what you want." he whispered hotly, before giving the shell of her ear a long, slow lick.   
  
"I want you inside me." Sami moaned, "I want you to..."   
  
"You want me to fuck you?" Lucas returned, the words sounding so naughty and hot coming out his mouth that Sami had to bite her lip to keep from screaming.   
  
"Yes." Sami breathed, "Right now."   
  
Lucas nodded wordlessly, unable to torture her as thoroughly as she had tortured him. He braced her against the wall of the bathtub, his shaft positioned outside her entrance. Lucas held her hips in place with both hands and Sami gasped as he drove inside her. The sensation was earth-shattering and Sami had to grip Lucas' shoulders for support. Her legs shuddered beneath her as he thrust into her, penetrating her fully. His mouth sought out hers as he pounded into her and their tongues lashed together. Lucas continued to increase their tempo and Sami matched him, her breaths short and ragged as he filled her to the hilt. Sami could feel every muscle in Lucas straining as he drove into her, hard and rough. Sami muffled a scream into Lucas' chest as she felt herself reaching the brink of pleasure. After a few more thrusts, Sami let herself go, throwing her head back and moaning loudly as the most intense orgasm she had ever had washed over her. Another few thrusts and Lucas had reached his highest point of pleasure as well. Both of them collapsed against each other, spent. Once Sami had caught her breath, she looked past Lucas' shoulder at the other items Nicole and Jan had left behind for them. And if they really were going to be locked in here the entire night... Sami eyed Lucas carefully, wondering if there was a way she could get him back into those handcuffs. 


	18. The Morning After

Chapter Eighteen

  
  
Late the next morning, Jan and Nicole began moving the dresser away from the door to the bathroom in Sami and Lucas' hotel room. After moving the dresser out of the way, Nicole tapped lightly on the door, only to be met by complete silence. Nicole let out an impatient huff and knocked a little harder. Jan stared at Nicole in disgust, then took a step towards the door.   
  
"Why don't you just open the door like a normal person would?" Jan asked, "I don't think it's locked."   
  
"Ew!" Nicole gave Jan a pointed look, "Do you remember what we left them in there to do? Do you really want to walk in and see in them in whatever state they are in right now?"   
  
"I guess not." Jan muttered, letting Nicole continue to bang on the door. Nicole could now hear muffled noises coming from behind the door but neither Lucas and Sami responded verbally. Annoyed, she kicked the door hard.   
  
"Get out here now!" Nicole demanded. Several minutes later, Sami and Lucas emerged, both of them wearing towels wrapped around themselves. Nicole squealed indignantly and covered her eyes with her hands.   
  
"I'm blinded!" she wailed, her eyes blocking out the seething expressions on Lucas and Sami's faces.   
  
Jan giggled, "I don't see how you could be blinded. There's nothing blinding about seeing Lucas in a towel. In fact, it's pretty easy on the eyes. And I just don't look at Sami." Jan added quickly.   
  
Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, "Don't you have anything to say for yourselves?" he asked, glaring at both of them.   
  
"No. What would we have to say?" Nicole asked innocently, "And you two can stop looking at us like that because you're not very intimidating when all you're wearing is towels."   
  
"Whose fault is it that all we have on is towels?" Sami shot back in outrage, "You had no right to do something like to us. What were you thinking?"   
  
"We were thinking about how much both of you would enjoy it." Jan raised an eyebrow, "You should be thanking us, silly. Not getting angry. You know you liked it. I bet you wouldn't mind if we did it again."   
  
"If you ever do something like that again, Sami and I will be forced to lock you and Nicole into an enclosed space together and tell Brady and Shawn that you two were having fun with each other." Lucas warned them. Jan and Nicole began laughing hysterically.   
  
"Can you imagine what Brady and Shawn would do if they thought-" Nicole had to stop speaking as another wave of giggles came bubbling out, "They would be sooooo pissed."   
  
"Don't flatter yourself. I don't think either of them would care." Sami retorted hotly.   
  
Jan ignored Sami, "When we get back to Salem, we have to pretend to be in love with each other. Guys think that is the hottest thing ever."   
  
"I don't think so." Lucas spoke up.   
  
"Yeah, well, you're weird." Nicole seemed to consider Jan's suggestion for a minute, "We could try that. I know I think gays guys are hot. I mean, what could be better, having a hot guy that would be willing to guy-watch with you? Nothing would beat that."   
  
"You two are twisted." Sami shook her head in disbelief, "I can't believe you would try something like that. What if it just turns Brady and Shawn off completely? Besides, Shawn is still in love with my sister." she added, almost as an afterthought.   
  
Jan shrugged, "We all have our own opinions about things."   
  
"And it won't turn them off." Nicole said confidently, "But hurry up and get dressed, Sami. We have something to show you."   
  
"What?" Sami's eyes flickered warily and she took a step away from Jan and Nicole.   
  
"You'll like it, I promise." Nicole assured Sami, sneaking a glance at Lucas, "Just as much as you enjoyed your night with Lucas, even if you won't admit how much fun you had."   
  
"Even if I did have fun, I wouldn't admit anything to you." Sami burst out, then pressed her lips together regretfully. Nicole watched as Sami's face darkened with embarrassment and Nicole smirked.   
  
"That sounds like a confession if I ever did hear one." Jan grinned at Sami, then scowled petulantly, "Get dressed now. I really want to show you this thing."   
  
"And I'm not invited?" Lucas pretended to be hurt.   
  
Nicole shook her head, "We only need to show Sami but I'm sure Sami will end up showing you eventually..."   
  
Still looking worried, Sami rummaged through the dresser for some clothes. After she had chosen some things to wear, she retreated into the bathroom. Jan turned to Lucas eagerly and sat on the bed.   
  
"So, since she's in the bathroom, while Nicole and I are waiting, can we just, like, watch you change?" Jan questioned him. Lucas shifted his weight nervously and pulled the towel a little higher.   
  
"Um, I don't think so." Nicole broke in, "I don't want to see that." Lucas shot Nicole a half-relieved, half-grateful smile and she returned the smile briefly. She almost felt sorry for him sometimes. No matter how many times Jan hit on him, the girl's brazen comments had to freak him out sometimes.   
  
"I bet the first thing Sami did was get you naked." Jan guessed, "Unless she decided that it would better to start off with a little foreplay..."   
  
"Oh, God, you two are sad." Sami remarked, stepping out of the bathroom, now fully dressed, "You lock people in bathrooms with the intention of getting them to play with each other, then you make guesses about what happens in other people's sex lives. Both of you," Sami's eyes alternated between Nicole and Jan, "Really need to get laid."   
  
"So did you and Lucas. Before last night, anyway." Jan retorted, getting to her feet, "Now, hurry up, we have to show you what we got for you."   
  
Sami followed Nicole and Jan out of the bedroom, still eyeing Nicole and Jan suspiciously. Once they were inside Nicole and Jan's hotel room, Jan hurried over to a large bag, "Nicole's date with the waiter didn't work out-"   
  
"Why the hell is everyone married these days?" Nicole interjected grumpily.   
  
"So, me and Nicole went shopping together." Jan finished cheerfully, "And we got you this." she pulled a t-shirt out of the bag and held it out in front of her, "What do you think?"   
  
Sami stared at the t-shirt in horror, "I think you have gone insane, especially if you truly believe I am ever going to wear that piece of crap."   
  
Jan pouted, "Sami, don't be so difficult. It's a great shirt, we found this place where they will make you a shirt that says whatever you want it to. We decided to get you one because we knew you would like it."   
  
Sami fingered the light cotton doubtfully, "Lucas' Go-Go Girl?" she snorted, "You seriously thought you could willingly get me into this thing?"   
  
"Yes." Nicole jumped in defensively, "It would be great to see you wear it when you make one of your publicity appearances. Lucas would love it. And Kate would die the minute she saw you wearing a shirt like that."   
  
Sami broke into a smile, imagining Kate's reaction to seeing Sami wearing the shirt, "You're right, it is a very nice shirt. I think I'll keep it and wear it sometime. But only around Kate." she added.   
  
"I hope I'm around to see that." Nicole laughed, pulling another shirt out of the bag. It was dark blue in colour, unlike Sami's shirt, which was dark red, "Look, Jan and I got matching ones."   
  
"You both got shirts that say Lucas' Go-Go Girl on them?"   
  
"I'd rather die." Nicole scoffed as Jan took a royal purple shirt out of the bag. They held them up for Sami's inspection. The one Jan was holding read Shawn's Go-Go Girl while the one in Nicole's hands read Brady's Go-Go Girl. Both women smiled eagerly at Sami, "So, what do you think? Aren't these the coolest shirts ever?" Jan asked excitedly.   
  
"I think you two are seriously going to scare the shit out of Shawn and Brady one of these days." Sami responded. Jan shrugged after hearing Sami's words and threw her shirt on the bed.   
  
"Enough about those shirts. I want to hear all about you and Lucas' shower fun." Jan told Sami.   
  
"I don't kiss and tell." Sami shot back, irritated at Jan's constant nagging. Nicole mumbled something about Sami doing a lot more than kissing Lucas but quickly fell silent when Sami turned to glower at her.   
  
Jan's eyes were glazed over and she smiled dreamily, "I bet it was wonderful. You and Lucas, kissing passionately underneath the stream of water-"   
  
"That's quite profound, Jan." Nicole broke in sarcastically, "Do you want to co-write my next novel with me?"   
  
"It's not profound, it's scary. Are you into voyeurism or something, Jan? You video-taped everything, didn't you, you sick pervert?"   
  
"Yeah, she did. And I just put the video-tape up for auction on Ebay." Nicole added, leering at Sami, "You wouldn't believe the number of bids I've already gotten for it." seeing the genuinely angry and scared expression on Sami's face, she quickly spoke again, "I was kidding. I wouldn't have let Jan video-tape, even if she had wanted to."   
  
"Kissing passionately underneath the stream of water, admitting their undying love for each other." Jan continued her speech, the sound of her voice letting Sami and Nicole know she was not pleased with them for interrupting her.   
  
"It wasn't like that at all." Sami cut Jan off again, "We weren't confessing our love for each other."   
  
"You weren't?" Jan exploded, "What the hell is wrong with you? When you love someone, you're supposed to tell them while you're-"   
  
"I think Sami is right." Nicole broke in, "You do need to get laid because you are way too interested in what goes on between Lucas and Sami. But as a sidenote, I think they confessed their love for each other after they finished doing... whatever they were doing."   
  
"Who said anything about love?" Sami protested, "I never admitted to being in love with Lucas. It's a game, this whole thing is. Love is completely irrelevant here, not to mention non-existent." she lied.   
  
"Okay, you don't love Lucas. And I don't love my Shawnie-Poo either." Jan replied.   
  
"Yeah, and I don't love... you know, that thing that I love." Nicole finished lamely.   
  
"Money?" Sami supplied helpfully.   
  
"Ha! I just made you admit it. You love Lucas the way I love money." Nicole shot back gleefully.   
  
"I'm surprised Lucas didn't end up admitting it." Jan murmured, "I would have expected him to tell you since it's so obvious."   
  
Sami stopped short of making the protest she had been planning on making, "It is?"   
  
"Sure. You're his little Sami-Bunny." Jan assured Sami.   
  
Sami cringed, "Shawnie-Poo and Sami-Bunny? Where do you come up with these nicknames?"   
  
"I'll never te-ell." Jan sang, then shoved Sami towards the door, "Well, what are you waiting for now? Go tell him, you stupid whore."   
  
"How am I a stupid whore?" Sami asked, insulted.   
  
"Because you didn't tell Lucas how you felt, that's why." Jan's eyes narrowed dangerously, "You don't know how good you have it. He loves you and you love him. You don't have to work to make him yours, the way Nicole and I do to make Brady and Shawn ours. Nicole and I are going to attack you in a jealous rage one day if you don't stop messing up."   
  
"Okay, fine, I'm going." Sami huffed, making her way towards the door. When she returned to her hotel room, she saw a now fully dressed Lucas sitting on the couch, his eyes closed. After shoving the shirt Nicole and Jan had gotten her into one of her dresser doors, she walked over to the couch and sat down next to Lucas. His eyes opened and he turned to her, yawning.   
  
"Tired?" Sami asked gently, resting her head on his shoulder. He smiled down at her, enveloping her in his arms.   
  
"Kind of." he admitted, smirking at her, "We didn't get very much sleep last night."   
  
Sami nodded in agreement, "And we still have a few hours before we're leaving the hotel. Nicole and Jan can wake us up later." Sami yawned too and got up to step towards the bed. Lucas followed her, slipping out of his shirt and jeans. Once both of them were underneath the blankets, Sami smoothed her fingers over Lucas' chest, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. After everything that had happened last night, she knew she loved him and she did believe that he loved her too. But the idea of actually saying the words out loud, risking her feelings and pride like that, was terrifying. She rolled over so that she was facing him. He seemed to sense her uneasiness and his eyes flickered with concern.   
  
"Are you okay?" he asked.   
  
Sami nodded, stroking the side of his face with her hand, "It's just, I wanted to tell you something. It's about last night."   
  
Lucas looked worried, "Sami, last night was incredible. But if you aren't ready to talk about it yet, you don't have to. I'm not going to push you, I'll give you all the time you need to sort things out."   
  
Realizing how worried he was about how she would react to what had happened the night before, Sami felt her heart soften even more towards him. He always made sure he looked out for her, even if it meant putting his own feelings second, "No, Lucas. I want to tell you right now. I think that I should have told you a long time ago. Lucas, I... I love you." she finished in a small voice, not pulling her eyes away from his. The way his dark brown eyes lit up at her words gave her complete assurance that he felt the same way.   
  
"I love you too." he whispered without hesitation, brushing her hair back from her face, "That's what I tried to tell you on the boat. You made it so easy to fall in love with you. And I couldn't stop myself from falling. But that's your fault because you tripped me." he gave her a crooked smile and she giggled.   
  
"That is the corniest thing I have ever heard." she informed him, trying to fight off the unshed tears of happiness that were swimming in her eyes.   
  
"You know you love it." Lucas replied, his hand pressing against the nape of her neck tenderly, tilting her head down so he could pull her into a kiss. 


	19. The Creation Of Two Horny Monsters

Chapter Nineteen

  
  
**Author's Note: This chapter contains language, sexual situations, the whole works. I apologize in advance for the pervertedness of this chapter.**  
  
Jan stomped around Lucas and Sami's hotel room indignantly, kicking random pieces of furniture as she searched for Nicole's laptop. God, she was getting sick of Nicole.   
  
"Jan, do this. Jan, do that." she mocked Nicole in a high-pitched voice, "Jan, go get my laptop out of Lucas and Sami's room. Jan, go find the papers I left in their room while you're at it. And when you finish that, come back so you can wax my fucking inner thighs for me, why don't you? God." she kicked the side of the bed and stormed over to the dresser.   
  
She riffled through the papers that had been left on the dresser, noting that they were written in Nicole's handwriting. Great. Now all she had to do was find Nicole's laptop, which Nicole had let Lucas borrow the night before. _What a lazy bitch_, Jan thought to herself, _Why doesn't she get her ass in here and find her laptop herself? Why do I always get taken advantage of?_ Suddenly, she smiled wistfully. If she was back in Salem, there was one guy there that she wouldn't mind being taken advantage of by.   
  
Jan went over to the small desk in the corner of the hotel room and yanked open the bottom drawer. It slid open noisily, revealing a lack of contents. Jan tried the desk drawer above that one, which was also empty. Finally, she reached the top drawer and she sighed with relief. She pulled the laptop out of the desk and got to her feet, preparing to leave the hotel room. As she stood, the papers fell to the floor. She inhaled loudly with annoyance and dropped to her knees, collecting the dropped papers. She heard the door to the room open. Assuming it was Nicole, she didn't look up and continued collecting the papers.   
  
She listened to the loud smacking sounds coming from the door and frowned in confusion. When she heard a low chuckle that was distinctly male, she stiffened. She raised her eyes to see who was at the door. Lucas and Sami stood in the open doorway, Sami's arms wrapped around Lucas' neck while he grinned down at her. Jan shrunk back even farther behind the desk, wondering how pissed Lucas and Sami would be if they found her in their hotel room without their permission. Both of them must have just gotten back from their latest publicity appearance. Nicole and Jan had decided not to go because Nicole had assumed that after their night in the bathroom, Lucas and Sami wouldn't need any more help from them.   
  
"Wow, Sami, you're certainly... enthusiastic today." Lucas commented in a teasing voice.   
  
"Can you blame me? We went all out on that last appearance. I think we were good enough to impress even Nicole." Sami returned. Jan inched even further behind the desk, praying that Lucas and Sami were planning on leaving soon. One of her legs had already fallen asleep and she winced at the feeling of the sharp tingles shooting up her leg.   
  
"I don't know, Nicole's really picky." Lucas reminded Sami, who shrugged in return.   
  
"But not _that_ picky. You were fantastic, Lucas. But if you think I'm going to let you get away without finishing what you started, you are very wrong." one hand left Lucas' neck and trailed down his arm, before her fingers began tracing the side of his torso.   
  
"You're in rare form today, Sami." Lucas remarked as both her hands slipped under his shirt to run along his shoulder blades, "Why don't I get to see this side of you more often?"   
  
Jan saw Sami smile at Lucas' words, "If you keep being so God damn overpowering, I'll have to unleash this side of me more often."   
  
"I'm overpowering?" Lucas snorted in disbelief, "You're the overpowering one, sweetheart."   
  
Sami giggled, grinding her hips into him slightly, "At least one part of you seems to think so." she stopped giggling and her eyes glazed over with desire. Pulling her hands around to the front of Lucas, she fisted his shirt in her hands and her lips met his in a short but hungry kiss.   
  
"God, Lucas, I want you so much." she whispered in a breathy voice. She snaked her arms around his neck again and pulled him into a burning kiss. Not breaking the contact of their lips, Sami began walking backwards, pulling Lucas along with her. Jan's eyes widened, not used to seeing Sami act so... wild. Lucas and Sami toppled over back of the couch, landing on the cushions with a soft thud. Even from the small space Jan had squeezed herself into, Jan still had a very good view of what was happening, unfortunately.   
  
_Fuck, I don't think they're leaving anytime soon_, Jan pressed her eyes shut tightly, trying to drown out the heavy breathing and passionate sucking sounds coming from the couch, _God, I was all talk before, this is seriously not something I want to witness_. Jan looked around the room, desperate to find an escape. But it was pointless, unless she risked herself getting caught by Lucas and Sami, she was going to have to stay put. She turned her attention back to Sami, who was lying on top of Lucas, nestled between his thighs.   
  
_I think I am going to be sick_, Jan thought to herself, W_hy does everything bad happen to me? Why couldn't Nicole have to deal with this instead?_ Sami pulled away from Lucas, her breaths ragged and feverish.   
  
"Is that a good shirt?" she rasped. Lucas looked somewhat confused at her question.   
  
"Um, not really, I guess. I mean, I have a lot of other ones..." without waiting for him to finish, Sami lowered her head to his chest. Jan watched Sami take the collar of Lucas' shirt between her teeth and pull it upwards. A loud ripping sound reverberated through the room as Sami continued ripping his shirt with her teeth right down the middle. Sami tried to tear the ripped clothing off of his body but one of his arms caught on the remains of the shirt. After tugging at it insistently, Sami finally shredded the sleeve of the shirt and flung the shirt off of the couch.   
  
The tattered remains of Lucas' shirt coincidentally ended up landing on top of Jan's head. In disgust, Jan plucked the shirt off of her head and looked longingly at the door. She pulled herself up onto the balls of her feet, wondering if it was possible for her to make it to the door without being detected. Lucas and Sami _were_ pretty distracted but Jan wasn't sure if it was worth the risk. If she was caught, Sami would probably kill her. Deciding not to try it, she sat back down silently, elaborate plots for how she was going to get Nicole back for putting her in this situation running through her head.   
  
Jan could make out the dazed expression in Lucas' eyes as Sami's mouth moved skillfully along his rock hard abdomen, "Mm, you still have too many clothes on. I think I need to fix that." Sami told him. She sounded like the old Sami but her voice was lower, huskier and filled with unconcealed lust. _What the hell has she been smoking?_ Jan mused.   
  
"Sami, you just ruined my shirt." Lucas shot back. Sami lifted one shoulder into a careless shrug.   
  
"You said it wasn't a good one." Sami was quick to remind him, sliding her body lower. Her hands hastily unzipped and unbuttoned his jeans. She managed to pull off his socks, shoes, jeans and boxers so quickly that Jan wasn't sure if she could even match a record like that. Jan did her best to keep her eyes averted from the sight of naked Lucas but in a matter of seconds, the temptation became too powerful. Her eyes widened when she finally took in the sight of Lucas completely exposed for her viewing pleasure. _Holy crap, I think I've been stalking the wrong guy. Even Shawn didn't look this good_. Jan couldn't resist thinking, then guiltily pushed the disloyal thought aside. She knew Shawn meant more to her than any other guy ever could, even if there were ones like Lucas out there who were very... big. Not that Shawn had been small by any stretch of the imagination, but he had been more on the average side.   
  
Sami lowered her restless mouth back down onto Lucas' lips and Jan silently pleaded with Sami not to block her view. But Sami almost immediately shifted positions and did just that. D_amn you, bitch, move it!_ One of Sami's hands was clutching a handful of Lucas' dark hair while the other had seemed to have disappeared. Lucas was moaning underneath Sami and it didn't take very much imagination to guess where Sami's unseen hand was. Without warning, Lucas turned on his side and in a matter of seconds, switched positions with Sami. Now that he was on top, his hands began working on removing Sami of her clothes. Since seeing naked women was not something Jan enjoyed, she closed her eyes again and wished that they would just get this over with so she could leave.   
  
Only a few seconds had gone by when she heard Sami whimper in between the spaces of thick, gasping kisses, "Lucas, I need you right now. Please..." it was inevitable. Jan couldn't stop herself from opening her eyes. And Jan turned her gaze back over to Lucas and Sami just in time to see Lucas' incredibly well-toned ass raise slightly, before lowering again in a hard, penetrating thrust. Sami cried out at the connection, a cry that could have been either agony or ecstacy, though Jan had a strong feeling it was the latter.   
  
Their pace sped up with each thrust and they were so loud that Jan couldn't stop herself from staring. Jan's face burned with embarrassment as Lucas and Sami moaned in unison, _I'm never going to be able to face either of them after this_, Jan realized.   
  
"Fuck." Sami gasped, writhing underneath Lucas, "Harder, Lucas, harder." Jan gaped at Sami, wondering how the hell she could make a request like that. It already looked like the pounding she was getting from Lucas bordered dangerously to close to painful. But Sami didn't seem to be in pain at all. Her legs were wrapped around Lucas' waist and she seemed to be forcing him deeper inside her with each thrust. Sami's hands gripped Lucas' hips, pushing him down into her over and over, then reached up to sink her teeth into his shoulder.   
  
_And this is what happens when you go waaaaayy too long without getting any_, Jan thought to herself, _I think Nicole and I have created a monster. No, make that two very horny monsters._   
  
"Sami..." Lucas grunted, his thrusts becoming even more forceful, if that was physically possible. Jan could see the muscles in his back straining as her pounded into Sami and his biceps rippled as he raised and lowered his body in time with Sami. Suddenly, underneath the sounds of moaning, grunting and sighing, Jan could make out another noise, a muffled bumping and sliding sound. She lowered her eyes away from Lucas and realized that the couch was moving. Actually moving. The couch skidded along the carpet, moving a little more each time Lucas pushed himself into Sami. The couch was practically bouncing off of the floor under the pounding Sami was taking. But that didn't stop Sami from begging for more, begging Lucas to fuck her harder. With each forceful push, Sami's language grew worse and her voice raised another notch.   
  
_Just come already!_ Jan thought, frustrated, _How long does it take for you morons to achieve orgasm? Why don't you just try out for the fucking Guinness Book of World Records, for crying out loud? _  
  
With a final, almost feral growl, Lucas seemed to reach climax only a few seconds before Sami. Lucas slumped against Sami and both of them just lay there for a few minutes, letting their breathing level out.   
  
"That was fucking amazing." Lucas managed to get out and Sami murmured in agreement. She sat up, pushing Lucas off her lightly.   
  
"And now, we should go christen the bathroom in this hotel suite too." Sami told him, practically bouncing up off of the couch. Jan could not understand how Sami could possibly still have so much energy after what she had just done with Lucas. Jan sighed with relief when she saw Lucas follow Sami out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. In a rush to get out of the horrible hotel room as soon as possible, Jan sprang to her feet and lunged for the door. But in her haste, she succeeded in tripping over the leg of the desk. Wincing, she began collecting the papers that had fallen. Then she heard Lucas' voice through the door to the bathroom.   
  
"I'll be back in a second, I just need to get something." Lucas said and Jan barely managed to get to her feet again before the door to the bathroom swung open. Lucas stepped outside and stopped dead when he saw Jan. Lucas was still naked but there was no reason he shouldn't have been, considering he had believed he and Sami had been alone the entire time. Jan's eyes flitted around the room anxiously.   
  
"What the hell..." Lucas' voice trailed off as he waited for Jan to give him an explanation.   
  
"I-I wasn't in here the entire time." Jan stammered, "I mean, I didn't see you and Sami doing anything, I swear." Jan stepped towards the door, unable to resist looking down past Lucas' face to the lean body beneath it, "Um, yeah, I should go now. It was nice seeing you." she inwardly flinched at the choice of words, "No, not like that, I meant... I meant."   
  
Before Jan could reach the door, the door opened. Jan whirled around to see Nicole step into the room, followed by two other people. Jan's mouth dropped open in shock when she saw who the two other people were.   
  
"Jan, what the hell took you so long- oh, shit, Jan! You finally got him naked! Are you happy now?" Nicole demanded, immediately shielding her eyes. Brady followed suit, pressing his thumb and forefinger against his closed eyelids. Shawn winced and turned away from Lucas to glare at Jan.   
  
"You wanted to get him naked?" Jan happily noted the evident jealousy in Shawn's voice, not even caring that he seemed very pissed off at her, "This is insane! Someone better give me some explanations right now." Shawn added, never taking his eyes off of Jan. 


	20. Brady And Shawn's Visit

Chapter Twenty  
  


Nicole and Brady walked slower around the edges of the outdoor pool at the hotel in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes before Nicole finally found her voice. It had taken a while for her to get over the shock of Brady showing up at her hotel room. At first, she had thought she was seeing things. But now that it was evident that she wasn't imagining Brady's presence, she was having a hard time coming up with something to say.   
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked him.   
  
Instead of looking at her, Brady fumbled nervously with his watch. His was talking faster than usual and his voice was almost a murmur, it was so low, "Shawn and I saw you and Jan sitting together in the audience on the Sharon Osbourne. We didn't know why both of you had left, so we decided to find you. It took us a while though, you two definitely know how to keep a low profile."   
  
"Right, I know how to keep a low profile." Nicole said distantly, "It's a big help when I'm plotting random people's murders."   
  
"Come on, don't be sarcastic." Brady reprimanded Nicole, "But you know, you are lucky you didn't have the Salem PD after you when left town without a word to anyone. If they weren't so certain that Marlena was involved in the killings, they probably would be after you."   
  
"You still haven't explained what you're doing here." Nicole reminded him coldly. She didn't know where all her hostility and anger towards Brady was coming from. She knew that she was upset that he had found her. She was supposed to be getting the money to support herself so she could divorce Victor. She had wanted that to be a surprise for Brady when she returned to Salem. But now that he was here, he could easily find out what her plans were. He could also find out a lot more than just her own motives, he could find out things that could be potentially dangerous for the well-being of the publicity campaign. But she had to be angry at him for more reasons than just that, she was just having a hard time figuring out what they were.   
  
Brady seemed both shocked and confused at Nicole's icy exterior. He shrugged, "I don't know. I know Shawn wanted to find out what Jan was doing and I guess I was a little curious about why you left Salem without saying anything too. I wanted to see how you were doing."   
  
"Bull shit." Nicole's voice was flat and void of any emotion, "I already know why you're here, Brady. You don't have to pretend. You came and found me so you could take me back to Victor like I'm his property or something. You and Victor probably share the same opinion. You think I'm another one of his assets, don't you?"   
  
"Nicole, calm down." Brady held up his hand to silence her, "I wasn't planning on taking you back to Victor. And I don't consider you Victor's property. I don't consider you anyone's property, you're too wild to be owned by anyone. I wanted to know why you left. Is it too much to ask? I want an answer, that's all."   
  
"If I give you an answer, will you leave?" Nicole blurted out, unable to stop herself. She couldn't believe she was allowing herself to treat Brady like this but she couldn't seem to help herself.   
  
"Maybe."   
  
"Fine. Well, I guess I just felt like getting away." Nicole answered simply, "I felt like I didn't belong in Salem. I couldn't take the stares and the accusations. Haven't you ever wanted to be somewhere where no one knows who you are?"   
  
"Nicole..." Brady's voice trailed off and he touched the side of her arm lightly. His touch was tender and vaguely reminiscent of the times they had shared before he had decided to blame her for any and everything that went wrong in Salem. All those things running through Nicole's mind caused the fingers resting on her skin to feel like they were burning her. She tore her arm away from his touch.   
  
"Of course you wouldn't want that? Why would you? You don't know what I'm go through. With Victor, with you, with everyone. And you don't care anymore, do you? For the longest time, you have treated me like I'm beneath you. And regardless of what you think, I am not beneath you. I have a lot more going for me than you'll ever know."   
  
"Like what?" Brady chuckled, then seeing the look on complete seriousness and anger on Nicole's face stopped him, "Nicole, what is going on? You never treated me like this before? What's happened to you?"   
  
"I don't know." Nicole ran her fingers through her hair, agitation washing over her, "I guess I've regained some of my self-respect. I've spent so much time with Lucas and Sami lately and I see the way Lucas treats Sami and it's amazing. And it makes me wonder why I've always settled for less, chasing after someone who doesn't trust or respect me when, if I wait long enough, maybe I'll find someone who will treat me the way Lucas treats Sami." the words had seemed to come out of nowhere but Nicole realized that she had meant ever word she had said.   
  
Brady was silent for a moment, as if he was unsure of how to respond, "Why have you been spending so much with Lucas and Sami?" he asked, not giving her a response to her words, "I thought you didn't even like them and if you wanted to be somewhere where you didn't know anyone, why follow them around?"   
  
"I do not follow them around." Nicole snapped indignantly, "The three of us and Jan are all travelling together, no one follows anyone."   
  
"But why are you travelling with them?" Brady asked again.   
  
Nicole gritted her teeth and stopped dead in her tracks. She spun around to face him fully, "None of your business. I am not going to tell you anything anymore because it is completely pointless. You don't trust me, so even if I told you the truth, you would probably assume I am lying. Since you don't trust me, I'm not going to trust you either."   
  
"Nicole, what the hell is going on with you?" Brady demanded sharply, "You're not yourself and I want to know what's happened that's made you act so different."   
  
"I'm not myself?" Nicole repeated incredulously, "Why, just because I'm worshipping you the way I did back in Salem? There's so much about you don't know and yet you still just make assumptions. I can't take that anymore. And I've- I've fallen in love with Jan!" she finished, remembering the conversation she had with Jan the day before.   
  
Brady's jaw dropped, "Jan? You have got to be kidding me." Nicole made sure her face was a mask of honestly and his eyes widened even more, "But- but she's such a loser." he sputtered finally.   
  
"Why? Because she's a girl?" Nicole's eyes flashed with fake anger, "But you what? I don't care if you don't approve because you mean nothing to me, Brady. You are a heartless bastard and I hope you have a nice life with opera bitch, spending every free moment you have with Chloe serenading her." with that final word, Nicole shoved Brady into the swimming pool and stormed away, inwardly congratulating herself for her dramatic performance. If that didn't peak Brady's interest, then nothing would.   
  
Brady pulled himself up to the surface of the water, shocked that Nicole had gotten up the nerve to push him in. He certainly hadn't been expecting it. Then again, he hadn't expected her to give him the cold shoulder when she had him and he definitely had not expected to admit her love for a woman. But he had to admit, her new attitude towards him was different and kind of refreshing in comparison to the way she had acted in Salem. Something had changed her and Brady had a feeling the change was a good one. All he had to do was win her over again. Unless she had gone full-out lesbian on him. Then he was screwed.  
  
"I can't believe we finally tracked you down." Jan looked up at the sound of Shawn's voice, a smile spreading across her face. But the smile faded when she saw that not only Shawn but Lucas, were standing before her.   
  
"Why did you bring him here?" Jan asked, feeling her face growing hot again. After Shawn had demanded that she give him some answers about what she had been doing with Lucas, Jan had run out of the room in embarrassment, hoping that Shawn would run after her. It had worked so well the last time, when she had left Salem and obviously, it never failed where Shawn was concerned. She just wished he hadn't decided to bring Lucas along, since she wasn't in the mood to face him at the moment.   
  
"Hmm, let's see." Shawn looked from Lucas to Jan for a moment, as if trying to figure out what was going on between them, "I couldn't find you, so I went back up to Lucas' room to see if he would help me find you after I spent half an hour running around the hotel. I was also hoping he would explain what happened between you two in the hotel room but according to Lucas, he doesn't know either."   
  
"Yeah and I was sort of hoping you would explain that too." Lucas added, giving her a pointed look.   
  
"Why should I tell you anything?" Jan challenged him.   
  
"Fine, don't tell me anything." Lucas smirked, "I'm really going to hate having to tell Sami my version of what happened then. And after I finish telling her my story, she'll be so mad at you that she'll-"   
  
"Fine." Jan cut him off, "Nicole made me go into your room to get her stuff. But then you and Sami came in and I thought you would be mad at me for being in your room, so I hid under the desk. I thought you would leave but then you, um, didn't. Then, when I tried to leave, you came out of the bathroom and caught me. That's all." Although, you do have a very cute butt. Not as nice as Shawn's though. Lucas snickered and Shawn looked like he was blushing. Jan froze and wondered if she had accidentally voiced her thoughts out loud.   
  
"Thanks, I'm really glad you like my butt." Lucas said dryly, not seeming embarrassed at all by her words, "Even if I do take second place to Shawn." Jan bit back a groan and wondered it was possible for her to make an ever bigger idiot out of herself that day than she already had.   
  
"I don't want to talk about it." Jan said shortly, turning her attention to Shawn, "But I do want to know why you're here."   
  
Shawn seemed flustered by Jan's words, "I don't know, Brady wanted to find Nicole and I knew you were with Nicole so I figured I might as well go with him. I was a little confused about you leaving after you had worked so hard to try and get my attention."   
  
Lucas cleared his throat, "I think this would be a good time to tell him about Nicole, Jan." Lucas prompted her. It took a minute for Jan to figure out what Lucas was talking about but then it dawned on her.   
  
"I guess it would. Shawn, Nicole is my... girlfriend." Jan finished.   
  
"Girlfriend?" Shawn repeated blankly, "What kind of girlfriend?"   
  
"The most un-platonic kind of girlfriend you can have." Jan responded cheerfully. As it sank in, a look of comprehension floated onto Shawn's face. Jan gave him a mock-sympathetic smile, "But don't worry, we can still be friends. I know I might have sort of made a pest out of myself in Salem but I know we can put in behind-" Shawn reddened suddenly and Lucas gave threw a taunting grin in Jan's direction.   
  
"I thought you didn't want to talk about it anymore." Lucas said and Jan realized that using the word 'behind' had obviously been a mistake.   
  
"But- but-" Jan stammered, growing increasingly nervous as Lucas' smile broadened.   
  
"You just can't seem to stop talking about it Jan." Lucas shook his head, pretending to be disgusted, "You really need to find something else to think about."   
  
"I didn't mean 'butt'." Jan protested, "I meant but- God damn it!" she yelled in frustration, glaring at Lucas. Then she turned to Shawn, "Look, we can about things some other time, okay? But I cannot carry on a decent conversation with him here. With that, she pushed her way past Lucas and Shawn and began to walk away. 


	21. Milk Substitute

Chapter Twenty-One

  
  
**Warning: This chapter may cause heart attacks. And I'm not just talking about Victor . Sorry for all the typos and everything in the chapter twenty but I was too tired to edit it.**  
  
"I am really bored." Sami announced, getting off the couch to go over to the television set to turn it off. Lucas gave her a dirty look and stood up as well.   
  
"I was watching that." he informed her testily. Sami raised her eyebrows in disbelief.   
  
"No, you weren't. You were practically falling asleep, which proves that you are just as bored as I am." suddenly, she grinned impishly, "But you know what I need that would make me less bored, don't you?"   
  
"I could talk a wild guess."   
  
Sami rolled her eyes, "Not _that_. I was talking about cookies. I want cookies and I know for a fact that Nicole has some stashed in her hotel room. And since she's not there and I don't feel like walking all the way downstairs to buy some cookies, I think we should go steal Nicole's."   
  
"Good plan." Lucas shook his head in amusement, "You should have been there when Jan told Shawn that Nicole was her girlfriend. I can't believe they are actually going through with this. So, what, now they're pretending to be off on a date somewhere?"   
  
"Yup." Sami said cheerfully, pulling Lucas by the hand out of their hotel room, "Nicole is going to be very angry when she finds out we ate her cookies. This is going to be fun. I love making her mad."   
  
Sami and Lucas walked into Nicole's hotel room and Sami went straight for the mini-fridge sitting in the corner of the room, "She hides them in here." Sami told Lucas, pulling out a bag of Oreos. Lucas picked up a box of Frosted Flakes sitting next to the fridge and looked around for a bowl.   
  
"Why does she keep all this food in here?" Lucas asked.   
  
"She says it's because she has to eat while she's writing to help her write better." Sami frowned, "I don't see how that works but whatever." Lucas opened the fridge a little bit wider and scowled.   
  
"She doesn't even have milk in here." Lucas complained, "Why does she have cereal if she doesn't have milk for it? Wait, never mind, I don't need milk. I just had a great idea."   
  
"What?" Sami asked suspiciously, watching Lucas pour some Frosted Flakes into the bowl he had found while she bit into a cookie. Once Lucas had finished pouring the cereal, he reached into the fridge and pulled out a can.   
  
"Milk substitute!" Lucas grinned, holding up the whipped cream triumphantly, "Now all I need is a spoon."   
  
"That's disgusting." Sami wrinkled her nose in disgust at Lucas as he covered his Frosted Flakes in a generous amount of whipped cream. Lucas put the whipped cream and cereal back where he had found them and smirked at Sami before taking a large bite of his whipped cream covered Frosted Flakes.   
  
"You are a very twisted person, Lucas." Sami was about to continue but the sound of voices on the other side of the door stopped her.   
  
"It's Nicole!" Sami whispered frantically, looking around for a hiding place, "Come on, we have to go under the bed."   
  
Lucas' eyes darkened wickedly, "What are we going to do under there?" he asked.   
  
"Eat." Sami answered simply, crawling underneath the bed. Lucas barely managed to make it under after Sami before the door to the hotel room opened. Instead of hearing Nicole's voice, Lucas and Sami heard Brady speaking instead.   
  
"Shawn, I'll be out in a second, I just need to make a phone call." _In Nicole's room?_ Sami couldn't stop herself from thinking. Sami wondered if there was more going on between Brady and Nicole than either of them were letting on.   
  
Lucas and Sami fell into silence while they listened to the faint beeping sound of Brady dialling a number on a phone.   
  
"Hi, is Victor there?" Brady asked after a few moments of silence, "Wait a second, Chloe, is that you?"   
  
Sami tried to pull another cookie out of the bag with making too much noise as Brady continued to speak, "I completely forgot about the time difference. So that means it must be the middle of the night in Salem. But I guess that's all the more reason for you to explain what you are doing in my grandfather's bedroom in the middle of the night. Wait, _Chloe_, don't- What? Oh, hey, grandad. Would you mind explaining what the hell is going on?"   
  
Lucas cringed, "It sounds like Brady is going to end up losing his girlfriend to Victor. That would really suck."   
  
Sami nodded in agreement, "But it kind of makes sense. We all know that Victor likes his women young."   
  
"Really? She did? You _what_?" Brady let loose a string of profanity before continuing on with the more civil part of the conversation, "I can't believe you! You know how I felt about Chloe, this is totally inexcusable." Brady paused for a minute, "What about Nicole? Oh, come on, those are two completely different things."   
  
Lucas filled his spoon with more Frosted Flakes, "You have to try some of this Sami." he told her. Sami tried shaking her head back and forth to avoid letting Lucas put some of his cereal into her mouth. He ended up smearing it all over her face and she gave him an indignant look.   
  
"Now look what you did." Sami wiped some Frosted Flakes off of her forehead, "You're such a slob, Lucas."   
  
Lucas ignored the last comment and licked some whipped cream off her nose, "Don't get so excited. I always clean up my messes." he added, his tongue running across her lips lightly.   
  
"Look, this is too much to deal with. I can't have this conversation right now. Good-bye." Brady said shortly.   
  
Lucas licked a little bit more whipped cream off her cheek, "I love whipped cream from a can. You don't have to work for it or anything."   
  
Sami, who had been in the middle of eating a cookie, suddenly covered her mouth with her hand and laughed silently, her shoulders wracked with laughter. Lucas realized what she was laughing about, "I didn't mean it like that. God, you have such a dirty mind."   
  
Sami's face suddenly turned red and she began coughing. She tried to hold back from coughing but finally she couldn't hold it in any longer and began coughing very noisily. In a matter of seconds, Brady appeared at the side of the bed. Sami and Lucas crawled out from the underneath the bed, meeting Brady's eyes with sheepish looks on their faces.   
  
"Were you spying on me?" Brady demanded, crossing his arms over his chest angrily, "And what the hell were you doing under there? What's that _white stuff_ all over your face, Sami?"   
  
"No, we weren't spying on you and it's just whipped cream. Nothing else." Sami jumped in defensively, wiping her face, "We thought you were Nicole." Sami's curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't resist asking Brady about the phone call he had just made to his grandfather, "Were you going to tell Victor you knew where Nicole was?"   
  
"Of course not." Brady frowned at the suggestion, "I just wanted to see how my grandfather was doing. But it's not really how he's doing that's the big thing right now. It's _who_ he's doing." Brady grimaced and sat down on the bed.   
  
"Chloe?" Lucas asked tentatively. Brady nodded.   
  
"That's disgusting. What happened? Did he drug her?" Sami asked, not able to find any other explanation for a young woman jumping into bed with someone like Victor. Unless they were after his money the way Nicole had been but somehow, Sami had a feeling that wasn't the case.   
  
"He didn't drug her." Brady sighed, "Chloe came back to Salem to see me and since granddad was already a little annoyed with me for going off to find Nicole, I think he must have made it sound like I had run off to confess my love to Nicole or something. So, I think Victor and Chloe just, er, you know, did it to get back at me."   
  
"Wow. You're having a real rough time, aren't you? Between Nicole and Chloe, you haven't had any luck with women lately, have you?" Sami asked.   
  
"Well, Chloe and I are over." Brady responded, "I'm sick of trying to continue a long distance relationship with her when I don't even think I love her anymore. And then there's Nicole, who's decided that she likes Jan better than me. Yeah, I've been having the worst luck ever."   
  
Lucas almost felt sorry for Brady, "Look, man, Jan and Nicole are just messing with your head. They're not really lesbians, they're just doing it to get back at you and Shawn."   
  
"Really?" Brady looked shocked for a moment, then his eyes began blazing angrily, "Well, they aren't the only ones who can play that game. I guess I should give Nicole a taste of her own medicine."   
  
"How?" Sami asked warily.   
  
"By pretending to be gay." Brady replied flatly, "And since Shawn and I are cousins, I can't really pretend to be in love with him. That only leaves one other person." Sami bit her lip to keep from laughing when she saw that Brady was looking right at Lucas. 


	22. Brady's Plan Backfires

Chapter Twenty-Two

* * *

Well, this plan has completely backfired, Brady thought to himself, cringing when Nicole pulled more of his hair out.

"Can you stop that? I'm going to be bald by the time you're finished with me." Brady said, struggling against the handcuffs Jan had slapped on his wrists earlier. Everyone was sitting in Sami and Lucas' hotel room that night and Sami, Nicole and Jan had all decided to spend the evening torturing him. Jan was holding him down while Nicole played with his hair and Sami painted his nails.

Nicole hadn't even seemed upset when he had told her he was in love with Lucas. She had actually seemed more happy about it than anything else.

"Really? This is terrfic. I always wanted a really hot guy-friend that was gay. We are going to have so much fun." Nicole had told him, then looked towards Lucas critically, "Although I'm really going to have to question your taste. Oh, well, we can work on that later."

Obviously, Nicole had either not taken him seriously or really didn't care. But Brady had a feeling that Nicole knew he wasn't really in love with Lucas. It was sort of obvious that he was trying to make her upset and it had been especially stupid after Nicole had admitted to be a lesbian before he had said he was gay. _Way to go, dickmuncher, you should have thought about that _before _you claimed to be in love with Lucas._

"Stop whining." Nicole reached for another pink hair tie, "I'm almost finished and it is not my fault that I'm pulling your hair. There's so little hair here, I don't have much to work with. You should grow it out."

"Then just stop." Brady mumbled, "And you can stop too, Sami. Pink really isn't my colour."

"But we can't stop." Nicole sounded horrified at the prospect, "You're not girly enough for Lucas yet. We have to make you pretty so Lucas will like you? Right, Lucas?"

"Sure." Lucas didn't take his eyes off of the television and chances were, he hadn't even heard what Nicole had said. Lucas had been ignoring Brady as much as possible ever since Brady had said he was going to act like he was in love with Lucas. Other than a few dirty looks in his direction, Lucas had left Brady completely alone.

"All right, I think I'm finished your hair." Nicole announced, admiring the hair she had put into miniature ponytails with pink hair ties, "Now I have to do your make-up."

"I don't think so." Brady protested, squirming frantically, trying to escape Jan's hold. Shawn had gotten sick of watching television and was now watching the scene Brady was making intently. Nicole pulled out a small brush and dipped it in the dark red blush sitting beside her. Brady moved his head from side to side and Nicole exhaled angrily.

"Jan, hold him still." Nicole ordered Jan, who immediately obeyed. Now that Brady's head was immobile, Nicole applied a generous amount of blush on each of his cheeks, biting the inside of her own cheek to keep from laughing.

"We are going to have so much fun, Brady. I'm taking you to a male strip bar, you know that, right? And don't even try to argue because you know you'll love it." Nicole added quickly, holding some eyeshadow up to his right eye. Brady managed to turn his head a little bit, only to have his eye poked by the eyeshadow brush.

"Ow!" he yelled, blinking furiously. Nicole shook her head and eyed him apologetically.

"I'm sorry but if you don't want that to happen, then you can't move." Nicole informed him, deciding not to bother with the eyeshadow. She took out a stick of lipstick and brought her hand up to apply some to Brady's mouth. It was the darkest purple colour she could find and she knew it would make Brady look like a clown, which would amuse her greatly.

Before she could begin to lipstick Brady's lips, Brady tried to bite Nicole's fingers. But his aim was off, thanks to Jan holding his head and he bit the lipstick instead. He quickly spat out the lipstick and brought his handcuffed hands up to his mouth to wipe off the lipstick.

"I wasn't finished with your nails." Sami spoke up indignantly, pulling his hands back down.

Nicole smirked, "Brady, what were you trying to do to the lipstick? Were you pretending it was Lucas? Well, practice _does_ make perfect but for the record, I don't think Lucas would like you to be that rough with him. That would probably hurt."

"It would be kind of pointless to practice _that _with a tube of lipstick." Sami jumped in defensively, "Lucas is a lot bigger that that. It would work better to practice with... a banana!" she finished triumphantly.

"Really?" Brady pretended to be intruiged, "Can someone go get me a banana?"

If looks could kill, Brady would be dead, "How about not?" Lucas finally joined the conversation.

"I will." Shawn volunteered, standing up off of the couch.

"Get me one too." Jan said. Sami and Nicole quickly jumped in as well, saying that they both wanted a banana too.

As Shawn was leaving the hotel room, Nicole's eyes lit up and she leapt off the couch eagerly. She left the room without a word, leaving Brady, Jan, Sami and Lucas staring after her. A few minutes later, she returned with a huge stack of magazines.

"I just had the best idea." Nicole said, dropping all of the magazines on the floor, "Since you're gay, why don't we look at my Playgirl magazines?"

"Uh, uh, uh..." Brady stammered incoherently for a few minutes before coming up with an attempted excuse, "But you love a woman. Wouldn't you be reading Playboys instead?"

"Nope." Nicole replied cheerfully, "I still like looking at naked guys. I've been a faithful Playgirl magazine buyer for a really long time and I don't intend to stop buying them just because I have a girlfriend. Jan still likes them too." she picked up the first magazine, which had a cover that was covered in pictures of blond, muscular men.

"I don't think I should." Brady murmured, looking away.

"Why not?" Nicole asked innocently, "If you like guys, you'll love these magazines."

"I do like guys." Brady said weakly, "But I know that none of the men in those magazines will measure up to Lucas. God, I love him so much."

"And I'm _right here_." Lucas reminded Brady in a gruff, irritated voice.

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one who thinks Lucas belongs inside a Playgirl magazine." Sami said, reaching over to squeeze Lucas' knee.

"All right." Nicole opened the first magazine and flipped through some of the pages until she found a picture she seemed to like, "What do you think of this guy?" she thrust the magazine in front of Brady's face and Brady forced himself to look at the picture. It was the only way he could keep up the pretense of being gay. _Wow, that guy is at least twice my size. There's no way that's real. _Brady thought to himself as he forced himself to nod approvingly.

"That's a... very nice picture." he managed to croak out.

"You're not very enthusiastic. But then again, everyone here knows you favour men with dark hair. I'll find you one who looks like Lucas." Nicole began flipping through the pages faster.

Brady sighed with relief when he heard his phone ring. Jan picked up the phone that had been lying beside him and held it up to Brady's ear, "Hello?" Brady spoke into the phone.

"Hey, kid, it's your dad." John Black's voice sounded out over the phone, "How's it going? I heard about Chloe and Victor and I just wanted to see if-"

Nicole had been listening to the conversation and sighed in disgust, wrenching the phone away from Jan, "Hello? Um, Brady doesn't care about Victor and Chloe, so you're wasting your time. Don't you know how he really feels?"

John sounded confused, "Uh, Nicole? Is that you? Let me talk to my son."

"Your son can't talk to you right now. He's too busy ogling Lucas." Nicole shot back, glad that she was getting the chance to make John Black squirm. Like most people in Salem, he didn't like her very much and it would be fun to see how much she could scare him.

"What the hell did you just say?"

"He's too busy ogling Lucas." Nicole repeated slowly, "Didn't Brady tell you that he' s gay? He's in love with Lucas, John."

"You have _got _to be kidding me." John's voice cracked slightly.

"And that's not all. Brady is pregnant. And Lucas is the father." Nicole deadpanned while Jan buried her face in the couch cushion to keep from laughing. Lucas turned to glare at Nicole and Brady stared at Nicole in horror.

"Now I know you're making all this up. That isn't even possible and your joke is not funny at all."

"I'm not joking." Nicole responded in the most sincere voice she could manage without laughing, "I am, after all, Mrs. Money-Bags Kiriakas. It's amazing what you can get from modern science these days if you've got the money."

"You liar!" Lucas made a grab for the phone but Nicole jumped out of his reach.

"Now, Lucas, I know you're still waiting for Brady to get a paternity test done but when is it going to sink in? Brady loves you and only you."

"I still don't think it's possible. There's no way that Lucas could be fathering Brady's child." John tried to convince himself.

"Oh my Gaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwddddddddddddd." came the sceech from John's side of the line. A screech that was unmistakably Kate.

* * *

John Black whirled around in the desk chair in his office at Basic Black. Both Belle and Kate were staring at him, both of their expressions equally stunned and disgusted.

"Who are you talking to? And what is going to on between my son and your son?" Kate demanded, tugging on her hair frantically.

"I don't really know yet." John returned, "I'm talking to Nicole and according to her, Brady is not only gay and in love with Lucas but is also somehow pregnant with Lucas' child."

"Oh, it's only Nicole." Kate fanned herself with evident relief, "Thank God. She's lying, of course. Don't believe a word she's saying."

Nicole had clearly heard what Kate had said, "I'm not lying. Here, Brady will tell you himself. Brady, you can't keep this a secret from your family any longer."

"Dad?" Brady croaked after a few seconds, "Nicole's not lying. I am gay. And I am in love with Lucas and fathering his child."

"BRADY!!" Lucas roared and John heard a distinct crash on the other line. Rubbing his forehead in disbelief, John turned to Kate and Belle.

"Brady just admitted it was true." John said shakily, "All of it."

"Nooooooo!" Belle wailed, "My brother can't be gay! Didn't he even think about what this would do to _me_? It will ruin my repuation, I'm going to disown him!"

Nicole was back on the phone now, "Well, even though Brady is in love with Lucas, nothing will come out of it. Sami would kill Brady if he tried anything."

"No, I wouldn't. I don't mind sharing Lucas with his male lovers, just not any female ones." Sami's voice could be heard in the background, "Come on, Brady, kiss him."

"God, this is horrible." John muttered.

"I don't think so." Kate objected, her brown eyes glinting hopefully, "Maybe Brady and Lucas will end up getting together. Maybe Brady will win over Sami."

"And you want this to happen _why_? John demanded harshly.

Kate bit back a sob, "I'd rather my son be a homosexual than be with Sami." she cried brokenly, "I'll take anything I can get!"

* * *

"Kiss him." Sami said again, pushing Brady towards Lucas. Lucas ignored the three women that were now pushing Brady towards him, only sliding farther down the couch away from Brady.

Brady continued to be pushed down the couch against his will, "I can't do it. I can't kiss Lucas if he doesn't want me to. My love for him will always be unrequited and I have to accept that."

Brady's really going all out on this, Sami thought to herself, _All the more reason to have fun with it._

Sami pushed Brady extra hard and he ended up crashing into Lucas. Both Lucas and Brady ended up falling onto the floor, Brady winding up on top of Lucas in the struggle. Lucas squirmed with agitation underneath Brady.

"Get off of me now." Lucas shoved at Brady roughly but Brady made sure to stay on top of Lucas. Brady briefly considered his options before coming to a decision. He had never kissed a guy before and maybe it wouldn't be _that _gross. Besides, if it got enough of a rise out of Sami and Nicole after what they put him through, it would be worth it. _What the hell? _was his last thought before planting a big, dramatic, noisy kiss right on Lucas' mouth.

Sami gasped and Nicole shrieked happily, "They're kissing, they're kissing, they're kissing!" she sang into the phone, "Damn, they're getting hot and heavy down there on the floor. I think I need a cold shower."

Lucas wrenched away from Brady and slammed his fist hard into Brady's jaw, "You are going too far, you bastard. Don't _ever _do that again."

Jan and Nicole were laughing hysterically and Sami was doing her best to keep a straight face for Lucas' sake but she was failing miserably. Lucas got to his feet while Nicole eyed the bruise that was forming where Lucas had punched Brady.

"Don't worry about it, Brady. It's nothing a little cover-up can't fix. Maybe Lucas will be more receptive next time." Jan suggested.

"I think Lucas is gay underneath everything. He just pretends to be straight. And if he had to pick one guy, he would definitely pick Brady because Brady would put his heart into it. Actually, he'd put a lot more into Lucas, now that I think about it." Nicole cackled evilly over the phone, unable to resist insulting Lucas, even if she hadn't been serious. Lucas grabbed a handful of Nicole's hair and then a handful of Jan's.

"All right, it's your turn. You two kiss." Lucas said. Nicole shrieked and dropped the phone as Lucas brought her face closer to Jan's.

* * *

The buzz of disconnection rang out on John's end of the phone and he hung up the phone abruptly.

"I'm not calling back there again." John said, his eyebrows twitching violently, "Because judging from what I just heard over the phone, I definitely do not want to know what is happening over there."


	23. Grumpy Lucas

Chapter Twenty-Three

* * *

Nicole was typing furiously on her laptop when Sami came out of the bathroom after changing into her pajamas. Sami made her way over to Nicole, who was sitting on the bed, about ten feet away from the television. Jan, Shawn, Brady and Lucas were all watching television; Shawn and Jan were sitting between Lucas and Brady. Lucas was slumped on the couch grumpily, his arms crossed over his chest while Brady held an ice pack over his bruised jaw, darting quick glances at Lucas every few seconds.

"What are you doing?" Sami asked, sitting down on the bed. Nicole stopped typing and looked up at Sami.

"Lucas and Brady inspired me." Nicole whispered, "I'm writing a story and sending it to Playgirl. Since I'm Lyric Wilson, they will definitely accept it."

"How did they inspire you?" Sami questioned, reading over Nicole's shoulder. The story's main characters were two men whose names just happened to be Brad and Luke.

"I can see why you're a best seller." Sami remarked after reading a few lines, "You're very detailed. Maybe a little too detailed though because unfortunately, I can almost see this happening in my head."

"There's nothing like some good description." Nicole said in return, beginning a long, explicit paragraph about parts of Brady that Sami really didn't want to think about.

"You know, maybe you shouldn't use the name Luke." Sami murmured, "People are probably going to be able to tell that you're talking about _your_ 'fianc'."

"That's the point." Nicole smiled to herself as she reread the last paragraph, "And since I used the name Brad, everyone in Salem will know about I'm talking about Brady. It will be hilarious. But I can't let Lucas see it because he'd probably kill me."

"See what?" Nicole had forgotten that Lucas was sitting so close to the bed and immediately shut her laptop and smiled innocently.

"Nothing." she tried to say but Lucas was already advancing on her and Sami. Nicole gripped the laptop tightly but once Lucas got there, he wrenched it out of her hands and opened it.

"Luke and Brad?" Lucas raised an eyebrow as he continued to read. It only took a few seconds for him to drop the laptop on the bed, horrified.

"Ew! You are one sick little bitch. I should sue for using me in your stor-"

"Lucas!" Nicole cut him off sharply, eyeing Shawn and Brady pointedly. Lucas closed his mouth and glared at Nicole.

"I hate you all. I'm going to bed." Lucas shoved Nicole off the bed and pulled off his shirt. He then turned around to see Jan and Brady both gawking at him.

"Stop it!" he yelled angrily, climbing in to the bed. Once he was under the blankets, he pulled off his pants, in order to avoid having Jan and Brady continue to stare at him.

He noticed Sami watching him and rolled over so that his back was to her, "And all of you can leave right now." he grumbled, "I'm going to sleep."

"Aw, grumpy Lucas needs his nap time." Jan mocked him in high-pitched voice.

"Get out." Lucas attempted to make Shawn, Jan, Brady and Nicole leave a second time.

"I don't think so." Nicole had carried her laptop over to the couch and was typing on it again, making sure to stay away from Brady and Shawn so that they couldn't see what she was doing on her computer, "We're all going to stay here the entire night and you can't stop us."

Sami frowned at Nicole, "Why? You have your own hotel rooms."

"But that's no fun. I want to annoy the hell out of Lucas. Besides, I haven't had a sleepover in the longest times. It would be kind of fun." Nicole answered.

Jan squealed happily, "I _love _sleepovers. Can we play a game?"

"What kind of game?" Shawn asked suspiciously.

"Why don't you go play a game in your own hotel room?" Sami suggested, getting off the bed, "Because both Lucas and I want you to leave."

"Well, it's kind of two against four, isn't it?" Brady commented stubbornly, "I don't think you're going to be able to get us out of here."

"Can you at least turn off the light then?" Sami asked, getting back on the bed and crawling under the blankets, "Because Lucas and I kind of want to go to sleep."

"Are you sure you want the lights off?" Nicole asked, looking from Lucas to Brady, "If we turn off the lights, there's no telling what Brady will try and do to Lucas."

"She has a point." Brady added, smirking at Lucas, "I don't know if I'll be able to control myself."

"I'm not worried." Sami shot back, scooting closer to Lucas, "I can protect Lucas."

"You've done a great job of that already, haven't you?" Lucas grumbled and inched so far away from Sami he was practically falling off the bed, "Telling Brady to kiss me and then _pushing _the guy on top of me. That's real protective."

"You're not seriously mad about that, are you?" Sami asked in disbelief, "Come on, you're supposed to have a good sense of humour."

"I do. But that was not funny, it was sick. How would you feel if I had pushed Jan or Nicole into kissing you? Would you find it funny if I had gotten one of them to kiss you?"

"Probably not." Sami admitted, then giggled, "But you have to admit, it was the _tiniest_ bit amusing. Nicole telling John that you were fathering Brady's child..." Sami broke off as she laughed again, "I can just see the look on that bastard's face. It must have been killing him."

Lucas' only response was to move farther away from Sami. Sami looked up to see, Brady, Nicole, Jan and Shawn all watching her. The four of them quickly averted their gaze when Sami saw them watching.

"You know, I'm tired too." Nicole announced, "I think we should all go to sleep."

"Bye." Lucas said pointedly.

"You're wasting your time because we're not going anywhere." Nicole informed him, "We already said that we're all sleeping over here and you can't stop us."

"It's the only way I can make sure Sami doesn't get to do anything to Lucas." Brady interjected, "I can't stand the idea of her touching him, feeling the way I do."

"God." Shawn rubbed his forehead tiredly, "This is so disturbing. Only half of the people in this room are straight and that's not a very good ratio."

"I get the couch." Nicole spoke up, ignoring Shawn. After a few minutes of confusion, Shawn, Brady and Jan were all settled on their places on the floor. Once the lights were off, Sami moved closer to Lucas and pressed herself against his back. He stiffened but didn't make a move to push her off.

"I'm sorry." Sami whispered finally, "I guess it might have gotten a little out of hand. I probably would have been pretty upset if a girl had kissed me too. If he ever touches you again, I'll let you pick the punishment and then I will carry it out. Take you pick, mutilation, castration, whatever you want."

Lucas actually smiled into the darkness, "I don't think we'll have to worry about that. After all, Brady's only faking it and I think I made it very clear that I don't want to get involved in his little game."

"True." Sami agreed, "So, does that mean you're not mad anymore?"

"I guess I'm not. Just don't encourage Brady, or any guy for that matter, to kiss me _ever _again." Lucas warned her.

"Yeah, like I'd be stupid enough to try that again." Brady joined the conversation and Lucas started, having momentarily forgotten that he and Sami were not alone in the room, "Lucas didn't enjoy it all and I have the bruise to prove it. But I enjoyed it. Until he punched me because then it wasn't fun."

"We know, Brady, you can shut up now." Sami told him.

"You're just mad that you and Lucas can't do anything." Brady shot back, "Because all of us are in here and you just can't so ha!"

Lucas scowled and rolled over to wrap his arm around Sami, "Do you have any idea how tempting it is to start touching you, just to prove him wrong?" Sami whispered in Lucas' ear.

"I'm going to have to agree with you on that one." Lucas replied, propping himself up on one elbow. His face hovered above Sami's, their lips inches apart. The instant their lips collided, Sami disregarded the presence of the four other people in the room, deepening the kiss with the brush of her tongue. 


	24. Prepare For Trouble

Chapter Twenty-Four

  
  
**Author's Note: Sorry there hasn't been that much Lumi in the last few chapters. Jan, Nicole and Brady are all trying to make themselves the center of attention _again_. I hate it when they do that. I'll try and have more Lumi in the upcoming chapters.**  
  
Nicole shifted impatiently on the couch, watching Brady examine his fingernails, "So, are you going to tell us what this is about any time soon?" she asked finally. Brady looked up to meet her eyes nervously.   
  
"I don't see why Jan has to be here." he responded. Jan crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the couch petulantly. Brady had been waiting for a chance to get Nicole alone so he could talk to her for almost the entire morning. But Jan hadn't left Nicole's side. Clearly, even if Jan and Nicole weren't in love with each other, they were inseparable enough to be.   
  
"Look, Jan and I are very close." Nicole told him, "And there is nothing you can say to me that my girlfriend cannot hear too."   
  
Brady sighed and shook his head, "Fine, I guess it doesn't matter if she stays. But I really need to talk to you because I need some advice. I have a... serious problem." he finished, frowning when Jan burst into helpless laughter.   
  
"Okay, I'm sorry. But you said 'problem' and it sounded so funny." Jan managed to say.   
  
"Don't worry about her, she laughs at the stupidest things." Nicole brushed Jan's laughter aside and focused all of her attention on Brady for a second time, "What's the problem? Jan, shut up." Nicole added sharply when Jan began laughing even harder. Jan clamped one hand over her mouth to quiet down and waited for Brady to answer.   
  
"It's about Lucas. I kind of have a crush on him." by the time Brady reached the end of the last sentence, he was mumbling and his cheeks had colored a deep shade of red. Nicole crossed her legs and threw Brady an amused smile.   
  
"Oh, yes." Nicole's voice mocked him, "I already know all about your crush on Lucas. You've made it very clear how you feel about him. Why did you decide to come to me for help now instead of before?"   
  
Brady scowled, "Nicole, quit making a joke out of this. I know the truth about you and Jan. Lucas told me you two are pretending and then I decided to get you back by pretending to be in love with Lucas. But after I kissed him, I realized that I actually did like it. Kissing him, I mean."   
  
"Haha." Nicole returned sarcastically, "I seriously doubt that."   
  
"It's true." Brady confessed, "It was... nice."   
  
"But you're not gay." Nicole sputtered, "This can't be happening. You don't really feel anything for Lucas, you're still trying to annoy me, right?"   
  
"I wish I was just trying to annoy you." Brady replied with complete sincerity, watching as Nicole's face crumpled in disgust.   
  
"I heard that when you go through traumatic or shocking experiences, it can make you gay sometimes." Jan broke in, "And I think that finding out your girlfriend is bonking your grandfather counts as both shocking and traumatic."   
  
"You know about that too? How did you find out?" Brady demanded.   
  
"None of your business." Jan said arrogantly, "And I think you only have yourself to blame for this. After dating Chloe for so long, it's no wonder you have been converted into a guy-lover. Chloe could turn anyone gay. It's your fault for dating her. I bet before long, your grandfather will be off chasing other old men like himself too."   
  
"All right, that's a really creepy thought." Nicole choked out, turning her attention back to Brady, "Brady, I think you're very confused right now. Don't jump to any conclusions, maybe you just made a mistake."   
  
"I don't think I'm making a mistake." Brady replied, hanging his head with shame, "Before Lucas, I have never thought about a guy this way. But when I saw Lucas shirtless... it was a million times more amazing than seeing Chloe naked ever had been."   
  
"Was it a million times better than seeing me naked?" Nicole asked indignantly. "It was probably closer to a billion times better." Jan muttered.   
  
"I'm not sure. That's one question I don't know how to answer." Brady returned, not wanting to infuriate Nicole any more than he already had.   
  
"Fine. I get it. You have a thing for Lucas." Nicole said flatly, still horrified that her current love interest didn't seem to know what team he was batting for, "But why did you think it was important to tell me this? Couldn't you have kept it to yourself?"   
  
"I told you because I wanted you to help me." Brady answered seriously, "I don't know what to do and I just want to stop feeling like this."   
  
Jan took pity on Brady after hearing the desperate sound of his voice, "I know what you're going through. It's really hard to be infatuated with someone who is completely unattainable. It's the same for me and my feelings for James."   
  
"James?" Nicole repeated, "I've never heard you talk about him before."   
  
Jan sighed, "I try not to think about him but sometimes, it's so hard to forget. He's so beautiful but I know I can never have him. Just like you can never have Lucas, Brady."   
  
"Where is this James person from?" Nicole asked curiously.   
  
Jan averted her eyes to the ground, "He's from Pokemon."   
  
"Excuse me? You mean that show made for kids still in elementary school? You have to be kidding."   
  
Jan's eyes blazed, "I'm not joking. James is so sweet and caring and his voice sounds really sexy and blue hair is the best!"   
  
"His hair is purple." Nicole shot back.   
  
"It's blue!" Jan screamed angrily, "And how would you know? It's not like you watch the show!"   
  
"Jan, he is a cartoon character." Nicole tried to reason with her, "You can't be in love with a cartoon character."   
  
"Stop telling me what to do!" Jan cried hysterically, covering her eyes with her hands, "_Do you know what's it's like?_ It took me forever to find a Team Rocket costume that actually fit me and I can only see James once a day, for only half an hour! And the whole time, Jessie is banging pots and pans over his head and treating him horribly. I could be good to him but I'll never have the chance." Jan broke down into sobs while Brady and Nicole stared at her in confusion.   
  
"I can't decide which one of you is more insane." Nicole finally announced to Brady, "I mean, Jan might like a cartoon character but at least she doesn't like a female. And Lucas might be a real person but he's the same gender as you. Not to mention he's going to marry you step-sister."   
  
Jan sniffled, "I know it's hard, Brady. You want Lucas like I want James and it can't happen. I can't take James away from Jessie, even if she's horrible to him and you can't take Lucas away from Sami. Because they are all in love and we're always going to be alone."   
  
"What about Shawn?" Nicole reminded Jan, who immediately brightened at the mention of Shawn's name.   
  
"As for him, that's a different story. I can take him away from Belle because, unlike Jessie who is kind of cool, Belle is a whiny, selfish bi- person." she corrected herself when she saw the way Brady was looking at her, "And Nicole doesn't have anyone, so she could always substitute for Lucas for you, Brady." Jan suggested.   
  
"I don't have a penis." Nicole responded in a dull voice, "And I don't want to be a substitute for anyone."   
  
"Well..." Jan's voice trailed off and she seemed to think about it for a minute, "In that case, there's only one thing for you to do."   
  
"What?" Brady asked.   
  
"You make a cage and lock Lucas in it." Jan informed him gleefully, "Then you can make him forgot all about Sami by-"   
  
The door to Nicole's room flew open and Sami marched inside, "Don't you dare!"   
  
Jan, Nicole and Brady jumped in surprise at Sami's sudden appearance, "Oh, God. How long were you listening to our conversation?" Brady asked, a sickening feeling of dread washing over him.   
  
"I heard everything." Sami's voice was pure ice, "And I could care less how you feel about Lucas. Just stay away from him or I will make you pay."   
  
"I thought you said you didn't mind sharing him with his male lovers." Brady protested.   
  
Sami glared at him, "First off, you are not Lucas' male lover, no matter what you might tell yourself. And secondly, I was joking. But I'm not joking right now, if you make any plays for Lucas, you will be very, very sorry."   
  
"I wasn't planning on it. I learned my lesson the last time." Brady reached up to touch the bruise on the side of his face, "I mean, if I tried to kiss him again, he might give me a black eye or, God forbid, _break my nose_."   
  
"I'd break a lot more than your nose if you tried that again." Lucas declared, stepping inside the room. It was clear from Lucas' expression that he was not yet aware of Brady's true feelings for him. It was obvious that he still believed Brady was pretending.   
  
"And I'd help." Sami added, giving Brady a pointed look as she stepped towards Lucas, "Because no one is going to come between me and my fiancé." her fingernails grazed Lucas' shirt, reveling in the warmth underneath the soft material. Her eyes fluttered closed and she found his lips, pulling him into her arms to make her point more clear to Brady. She kissed him without hesitation, her mouth open, her tongue rolling across his. Lucas responded eagerly, pushing his hands against the small of her back and applying more pressure to her lips.   
  
"You guys, stop it." Jan whined, "Go do that somewhere else."   
  
"Fine." Sami said in a breathless voice, pulling away from Lucas. Taking his hand, she led him out the door to Nicole's room.   
  
"What was that about? You looked about ready to kill Brady when I walked in." Lucas observed as the two of them made their way back to their own hotel room.   
  
"It's no big deal." Sami replied, "I was going to talk to Nicole about the publicity campaign but then I overheard Brady saying some things about-" Sami cut herself off. She wasn't sure if there was any way to tell Lucas that, not only would he continue to have to deal with Jan's crush on him but he would also have to deal with Brady's crush as well.   
  
"About what?" Lucas prompted her.   
  
Sami shuddered slightly, "You seriously don't want to know. Just promise me you won't go along with Brady if he tries to get you to help him pretend to be gay. Because that could end up being very... dangerous."   
  
Brady looked at the door sadly, "You know, for my own personal reasons, I'm really starting to hate Sami."   
  
Nicole ignored Brady and pinched Jan's arm, "This is all your fault." she hissed, "You made Brady gay!"   
  
Jan snorted, "Wouldn't Lucas be more to blame than me? Or even Chloe could take the blame but I didn't do anything."   
  
"Yes, you did." Nicole retorted coldly, "It was your idea to pretend to be in love with each other. If we hadn't pretended to be lesbians, Brady wouldn't have pretended to be gay. If he hadn't been pretending to be gay, then he wouldn't have kissed Lucas and decided he liked kissing Lucas."   
  
Jan raised her eyebrows, "If you say so, Nicole. It's not like I really care what you say."   
  
"Oh, but you will. Because I am going to get you back for this." Nicole promised.   
  
"How?"   
  
Nicole smiled evilly, "I think I'll go find Shawn so I can-" she added air quotes for emphasis, "Talk to him."   
  
It took a few seconds for it to sink in for Jan but as soon as it did, she sprang to life. Jumping off of the couch, she tore after Nicole, who was striding towards the door of the hotel room.   
  
"You wouldn't, Nicole! You bitch, Shawn is mine!" Jan screeched, following Nicole out of the room, leaving Brady alone to wallow in his self-pity. 


	25. And Make It Double

Chapter Twenty-Five

  
  
**Author's Note: I honestly have no clue where this chapter came from. And just to let you know, contrary to what this chapter might make you think, I am not obsessed with Pokemon. The plot will actually move in the next chapter, which is probably a good thing considering it's been frozen for the last little while thanks to Brady and Jan's stupidity, lol. This chapter is also rated NC-17 for sexual content. And sorry about posting two chapters in a row but FF.net was down and wouldn't let me log in.**  
  
Sami walked through the small forest next to the hotel and looked around for signs of Lucas. They had told each other they would meet here but she didn't see him. She took a few more steps, going further into the forest, when a blur of pink blocked her path. She shrieked and jumped back, looking at the woman in front of her. The woman was kind of funny looking, with bright pink hair, an over-sized pink dress and about five pounds of make-up. The woman also didn't seem to want to make eye contact with Sami.   
  
"Sorry about that." the woman said in a high, falsetto voice that sounded somewhat familiar to Sami, "I wasn't looking where I was going. It won't happen again."   
  
"Um, okay." Sami looked closely at the woman, who still kept her eyes away from Sami's eyes, "But why are you here?"   
  
"Hehe," the woman giggled nervously, continuing to speak in a squeaky voice, "I'm just taking a walk through the forest. You know, I love forests."   
  
Sami frowned and scrutinized the woman's appearance further. Now that she thought about, for a woman, she had a very masculine body. Her shoulders were pretty broad and she was taller than most women were. And her hair seemed to be slipping down on one side. In an instant, Sami realized who she was dealing with. She ripped the wig off of him and threw it on the ground. Her eyes widened when she saw him without the wig.   
  
"Brady, what the hell? Your hair... it's purple."   
  
There was some rustling in the bushes and it only took seconds for Jan to emerge, carrying a megaphone, "It's blue!" she screamed at Sami through the megaphone. Sami covered her ears with her hands and frowned at Jan, then did a double-take.   
  
"And what kind of outfit is that?" Sami asked. Jan had dyed her hair red and straightened it and was wearing a white shirt with a red 'R' on the front, black gloves, a white mini-skirt and black boots that came up past her knees.   
  
Jan glared at Sami, "It is my official Team Rocket Uniform." Jan informed Sami in a haughty voice, "Not that you'd know anything about that. Brady come here, we have to say our motto now." she pulled Brady over to her and the two of them stood back to back, looking down at Sami with a look Sami assumed was supposed to look menacing but made them look more like frogs.   
  
"Prepare for trouble." Brady began.   
  
"And make it double." Jan added. Sami drowned out most of their speech because Brady kept forgetting his lines and Jan had to whisper to him what they were. Once they were finished, Sami looked at them expectantly.   
  
"Well, that was wonderful." Sami said sarcastically, "Now, what are you two doing out here? Pretending to be Jesse and James and trying to capture Pikachu or something?" Will had used to watch Pokemon so Sami had a vague idea of what went on in the show.   
  
Brady had sat down on the forest floor and was playing 'He loves me, he loves me not' with the rose he had been carrying around so Jan had to answer, "Not exactly." Jan started to say but was interrupted by more loud rustling from the bushes. Nicole stepped out, wearing another scary outfit quite similar to Jan's. But instead of white, this outfit was black and instead of huge black boots, Nicole wore high white socks with a red stripe around the top of them. Sami resisted the urge to burst out laughing at the sight of Nicole wearing something so stupid because it looked even more out of place on her than it did on Jan.   
  
"And let's just get one thing straight." Nicole glowered at Jan, "I'm Jesse."   
  
"No, you aren't. Get it through your head, your outfit and hair are too different. I'm Jesse and you're Cassidy."   
  
Nicole ignored Jan and plunged ahead, "Oh, and Brady's hair is purple. This is blue." Nicole pulled Shawn out of the bushes, whose outfit was the more masculine version of what Nicole was wearing.   
  
Shawn scowled at Nicole, "It's not blue, it's teal." he said self-righteously.   
  
Jan shook her head in disgust and turned back to Sami, "As I was saying, we might be Team Rocket but it's not Pikachu we're after. Nope, we've gotta catch ourselves a Lucas."   
  
"I don't think so. Lucas isn't stupid enough to let you 'catch' him." Sami shot back indignantly.   
  
"That's where you're wrong." Jan replied, looking past Sami's shoulder, "Look, there he is now. Butch, Cassidy, hold Sami down. I can't let her mess up my plans."   
  
Before Sami could react, Nicole and Shawn were dragging her away, Shawn's hand covering her mouth so she couldn't scream. Sami tried struggling to get away from them but they wouldn't let her go. Sami attempted to bite Shawn's hand but he wouldn't let her do that either. They pulled Sami down behind some bushes and Jan joined them. All four of them watched as Brady, once again wearing his pink wig, began walking in Lucas' direction.   
  
"Excuse me, could you help me please?" Brady squeaked while Lucas looked mildly scared at the sight of such a strange looking person standing in front of him, "My cat is stuck in a tree and I can't get it out."   
  
Lucas was silent for a moment, "Sure. I guess I could help." he said slowly. Brady giggled girlishly.   
  
"Oh, thank you, that's so nice of you." Brady took Lucas by the hand, "Come on, it's right over here."   
  
"Look, they're holding hands." Jan cooed, smiling proudly at Brady.   
  
Sami squirmed against Shawn and Nicole's hold, trying desperately to escape. But Shawn and Nicole didn't let go of her, so she couldn't only watch as Brady led Lucas over to a cage that was sort of obscured from view by large group of trees. When Lucas wasn't expecting it, Brady shoved Lucas inside the cage and quickly locked it. Jan leapt out from behind the bushes and rushed over to Brady, who was hastily removing his wig and make-up.   
  
"We did it! We caught Lucas." Jan sang, skipping around the cage. Lucas rattled the bars of the cage angrily.   
  
"Brady! Jan! Let me out of here now! I'm not going to take this!" he shouted.   
  
"You don't have a choice." Jan laughed, then turned back to Shawn, Nicole and Sami, "Take Sami back to the hotel while we hide Lucas' cage. Sami, you're never going to see Lucas again. He is Brady's now and eventually he will love Brady and you will be out of the picture completely."   
  
Sami opened her mouth to protest but Shawn and Nicole began dragging her away before she had the chance.

* * *

Then Sami woke up, her breaths coming in short, ragged gasps. She could feel Lucas' sleeping form underneath her and the warm hardness of his chest pressed against her cheek. It had only been a dream, a very crazy and awful one but still only a dream. She raised her head to take in the sight of Lucas' face, sighing with relief, glad that he was still sharing their bed in the hotel room instead of being trapped in a cage by Brady and Jan.   
  
She realized then how lucky she actually was. Ever since they had started this publicity campaign, countless amounts of people had began lusting after Lucas. The number of women that would kill to be with him was probably almost unthinkable and if Brady was any indication, there had to be plenty of guys that wanted him too. But he was hers and only hers. And she loved him not only for the shallow things his fan-girls (and fan-boys) loved him for but because she knew what an incredible person he was, inside and out.   
  
She leaned down and her lips brushed lightly against his stilled mouth in a feather light caress. Her mouth moved on to trace the contours of his jaw, then up to slide gently along his cheeks. Her fingers threaded through his soft, thick hair as she kissed both closed eyelids. She felt him stir and lifted her eyes to look at him.   
  
"Sami?" his voice was low and raspy from sleep, "What's wrong? Why are you still awake?"   
  
"I just woke up." she whispered, her hands running down his chest. His body was so warm to touch, she felt like she could almost melt against him if she wanted, "I had a nightmare."   
  
"Oh," Lucas sat up in the bed, "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, gathering her up in his arms. Sami snuggled against his chest and shook her head. It was enough just to be in his arms and know that Brady and Jan hadn't done anything to him. Besides, if she told him about her dream, it would probably freak him out immensely.   
  
"No, it's okay." Sami responded, nuzzling the back of her head against Lucas, "It was just... really weird and I'm glad it didn't happen. That would have been terrible."   
  
"You're sure you don't want to talk about it?" Lucas tried again, "It might make you feel better."   
  
"Well, Jan, Nicole, Brady and Shawn were all in the dream. If that doesn't make it a nightmare, then I don't know what does." Sami said lightly, "And I really don't need to talk about it, I feel fine." Sami turned around to face Lucas and eased one of her legs between his. Her hands held the back of his head, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck as she began kissing him with an intensity that caused all grogginess from sleep to leave Lucas completely. Her tongue delved into his mouth to stroke his inner lips and cheeks expertly. Her lips were hot and demanding against his and her tongue probed deeply into his mouth. After a few prolonged minutes of kissing, Sami slipped one hand underneath the slit in his boxers to encase him in her hand. She felt Lucas tense at the unexpected touch and he broke the contact of their lips.   
  
"Sami, it's, um, it's..." Sami's hand continued to move under his boxers, bringing his semi-hardness to a full-out erection with just a few skillful strokes. Lucas swallowed hard and made another attempt to form a complete sentence, "It's late. You don't have to if you don't want-"   
  
"If I didn't want to, I wouldn't be doing it." Sami purred quietly against his neck, "It will make me... feel better after my nightmare. Unless you're trying to get out of it because you've realized that you like Brady better." Sami bit back a laugh at the expression on Lucas' face.   
  
Lucas raised an eyebrow and Sami could hear the challenge in his voice, "On second thought, do whatever you want."   
  
Sami smiled triumphantly, "Okay." she molded one hand around Lucas' solid length a second time, only this time she did it through the layer of the boxers still covering him. Lucas rocked his hips into her touch as Sami continued to rub him flirtatiously, making Lucas almost dizzy with need. Sami pressed her smiling lips against Lucas' mouth, stifling his growl of frustration at her merciless teasing. Sami finally decided to stop taunting him and lowered the boxers off him, quickly tossing them onto the floor. She knelt down between his legs, her lips fluttering along his inner thighs, inching closer to his throbbing arousal at a torturously slow pace. Lucas groaned low in his throat, begging Sami to touch him as his hands threaded through her long, tousled hair. Sami relented and swirled her tongue around the head of his shaft lazily, earning another groan from Lucas.   
  
Her mouth spiraled around his hardened member as she continued to increase the suction of her mouth on him. She allowed her teeth to graze the rigid flesh slightly, hearing him hiss sharply in response. Her mouth encased more pulsating heat from his erection, consuming his length inch by inch. Then, one hand stopped stroking his chest and moved down to cup his balls, eliciting another groan of approval from Lucas. She cradled each weighted sac in her hand while she continued moving her mouth around him, working his entire length. Lucas finally came with a strangled cry, his seed spilling into Sami's mouth. After swallowing, Sami lifted her head and smiled at him. He seemed frozen from post-orgasmic numbness for a few seconds but finally he exhaled deeply and held his arm out to Sami.   
  
"I feel a lot better now." she told him, curling up against the hard plain of his chest. And she really did feel completely calmed down now, despite the disconcerting nightmare she had just had. It had been more of a possessive issue than anything. She knew she didn't really have anything to worry about where Brady was concerned but she still hated the idea of Brady having feelings for the man she loved. It was reassuring to be able to touch Lucas and know that she was the only one who had the privilege of being with him so intimately. I almost feel sorry for Brady though, Sami realized as she shifted into a more comfortable position, He doesn't know what he's missing. 


	26. The Real Lyric Wilson

Chapter Twenty-Six

* * *

As soon as Brady entered his hotel room, Shawn jumped to his feet and grabbed a large, puffy jacket off of one of the beds. Shawn had been wearing that jacket a lot lately but for some reason, it appeared to Brady that Shawn only seemed to wear it when Brady was around. Shawn had been a little bit skittish around Brady ever since Brady had confessed to being in love with Lucas. Shawn hadn't even wanted to share a hotel room with Brady after hearing Brady admit to loving a guy but eventually, he had backed down only because he and Brady were related. And now Shawn had covered his upper body completely in the puffy jacket and was making his way towards the door, looking more at the floor than at Brady.

"Hey, Brady. It's good to see you. I was just leaving." Shawn told Brady, chuckling nervously. He made a move to step towards the door but Brady immediately blocked his path.

"Hang on a second, Shawn." Shawn stopped in his tracks, waiting for Brady to speak again, "Where were you last night?" Brady asked finally, "You didn't come back to the hotel and I had no clue what had happened to you."

Shawn smiled genuinely, snapping out of his state of discomfort, "Yeah, I was one busy man last night. Nicole and Jan handcuffed me into their room and got into this huge cat-fight over my cherry."

Brady felt his heart stop beating for a split second and a twinge of jealousy sliced through him at the thought of Nicole fighting for anyone other than himself, "Your what?"

"My cherry." Shawn clarified, the cocky grin on his face making Brady want to slug him, "They both wanted to deflower me. They beat each other up pretty bad. It was kind of hot though. Made me wish I had _two _cherries. Then, I offered to let them share my cherry but they didn't really go far that."

Brady frowned, "You actually antagonized them like that? What about my sister?"

"I'm through with your sister." Shawn returned, "And they had hand-cuffed me to their bed. I was going to get my cherry popped, whether I liked it or not, so I figured I might as well enjoy myself."

"Really?" Brady leaned against the door and smiled back at Shawn, not surprised to see Shawn's smile fade, "Well, take off your coat. Stay a while."

Shawn shifted his weight uncomfortably, "No, I don't think so. I really have to go."

"Why are you wearing that jacket? It's boiling outside. You're going to suffocate in that thing." Brady commented.

"There's nothing wrong with my jacket." Shawn said in a highly defensive voice, pulling the jacket tighter around himself, "I like my jacket and I'm sorry if you have a problem with it. But then again, the less clothes guys have on, the more you probably like it and-" Shawn stopped talking abruptly, his face reddening when he realized what he had just admitted.

Brady rolled his eyes, "I thought that might have been the problem."

Shawn's eyes widened earnestly, "Well, Brady, I've been told that I'm very attractive. Now, the less I have on, the more you're probably going to notice and get some very wrong ideas."

Brady snorted with disbelief, "Shawn, I'm in love with Lucas, not you. And you're my cousin, for God's sake. Take off the coat, Shawn. Just take it off."

Shawn grumbled a little bit but reluctantly shrugged out of the coat, watching Brady warily every second, "That's a good boy. Now, I promise you, I have absolutely no urge to jump on you and rip the rest of your clothes off. Are we clear?"

"I guess so." Shawn muttered, kicking the carpet with his foot and backing away from Brady.

"So," Brady couldn't stop himself from asking, "Who ended up getting your cherry?" _Jan, Jan, please say Jan, _Brady silently pleaded with Shawn.

"It was pretty close." Shawn said, grinning broadly, "But in the end, Jan ended up getting it. That was one great night, let me tell you."

Brady resisted sighing with relief and opened his mouth to respond but the sound of his cell phone ringing stopped him. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the caller ID, "It's my dad. I can't believe he's actually calling. After Nicole told him all that stuff about me and Lucas, he hasn't tried to call at all. I wonder what he wants."

Brady answered his phone tentatively, "Yeah?"

"Hello, son." John's voice sounded forced, like he was trying to sound like everything was normal, "How's everything going?"

"Fine." Brady said, not understanding the point of this phone call.

"Are you sure?" John pressed, "How are you holding up?"

"Fine." Brady repeated, his eyebrows creasing in confusion, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I just thought it might be hard for you lately because of your... condition." John croaked, as if he couldn't manage to get any more specific than that. All at once, Brady understood.

"Oh, right, the pregnancy." Brady smiled somewhat wistfully to himself, "Well, it hasn't been easy but I'm handling it pretty well. Lucas has been so supportive of me and I'm grateful for that. I wouldn't be able to do this if it wasn't for him."

"Brady..." John's voice was a hoarse whisper as the door behind Brady swished open.

"We've been talking." Brady continued in a dreamy voice, unable to understand how all these lies were rolling of his tongue so easily, "About what we're going to name our child. I want to name it after Lucas, so I was thinking that Lucinda or Lucifer would be good names."

"Lucifer? You know, that works. A baby produced by you and Lucas would definitely be a devil child." Brady turned to see Jan and Nicole standing in the open doorway of his hotel room.

"You can't go through with it, Brady." John spoke suddenly.

"What?"

"You cannot have Lucas' child." John told Brady in a firm voice, "I can't let you do it. I've been spending the last few days looking for an abortion clinic that will help you get rid of your problem. I've already found a few but none of them take me seriously after I tell them I'm there on behalf of my son."

"Dad, how could you?" Brady demanded, horror-stricken, "I am not going to kill my baby. You had no right to start looking for abortion clinics without asking me if it was what I wanted first!"

"Aw, come on, you know this isn't what you want. Do you really want to be remembered as the first man to give birth to a baby? It's completely unnaturual for men to do this sort of thing. Have you ever thought about what it would be like when you have to give birth? They're going to cut you wide open. And think of the stretch marks it's going to leave." John reasoned.

"I don't care about any of that." Brady retorted stubbornly, "Lucas is worth it. I'd sacrfice anything for him."

"Geez, Brady, this isn't real. You don't actually feel this way about Lucas. You're _not _gay." John shot back.

"Shut up." Brady squeezed the phone so tightly his fingers began to ache, "Just stop talking to me. We don't have anything to say to each other anymore, you- you- _homiphobe_!" he finished emphatically, pressing the off button on his cell phone aggressively.

Shawn whistled, "That was... interesting."

Nicole scowled at Brady, "You do remember that we just made that up and that you're not _really _pregnant, don't you?"

"What? He's not pregnant?" Shawn looked shocked, "And I was so looking forward to seeing Brady get fat."

"Between you and John, Salem must be home of the world's most gullible idiots." Jan muttered under her breath, not loud enough for Shawn to hear.

"Of course I remember that we're pretending. I'm not crazy. I guess I got a little carried away but he was trying to tell me what to do and it was annoying. So I kind of lost it."

"You lost it the minute you decided you were in love with Lucas." Nicole returned, then changed the subject, "Shawn, Jan and I were bored so we were wondering if you wanted to come do something with us. We could go swimming or something."

"Okay." Shawn grinned and began heading towards the door, "See you later, Brady." Shawn said. Jan and Nicole didn't bother saying good-bye to Brady as they left the room. Brady frowned, feeling extrememly wronged.

"Since when did Shawn become the super-stud around here?" Brady said aloud, then inwardly answered his own question, _When you decided you liked a guy and when Sami made it clear she would hospitilize anyone who made a play for Lucas._

Sighing, Brady left the hotel room as well. Once he got outside, he saw that Sami and Lucas were also outside their hotel room. Lucas had Sami's hands raised above her head and was kissing a trail down the side of her neck.

_Sami is definitely getting on my last nerve, _Brady thought, _Why couldn't she like someone else? I bet I like Lucas more than she does._

Lucas stopped kissing Sami's neck and grabbed one of her hands. He twirled her large diamond ring around her finger and grinned, "You know, as soon as this is over, I'm going to take you back to Salem and find you a _real _engagement ring. Not just this fake one that Nicole let us use."

"What are you talking about?" Brady asked. Sami and Lucas jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice and turned to look at him. Both of them just stammered incoherently for a few seconds before answering.

"Oh, Nicole just gave us this one to use because the real engagement ring Lucas gave me... got stolen." Sami finished quickly, looking around the hallway nervously. Lucas nodded in agreement.

"Let's see the ring." Brady said, grabbing Sami's hand before she could protest. When he saw the ring, his eyes widened.

"This was the ring I was going to give to Chloe."

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked, taking another look at the ring.

"Of course, I'm sure. Either that or it's the exact replica. I can't believe Nicole would do that. And I don't even know why she's helping you guys with your publicity campaign. None of this makes sense at all. I have to go talk to Nicole. I want to get some answers." Brady said, storming away before Lucas and Sami had a chance to say anything else. Forgetting that Nicole had left with Shawn and Jan, Brady burst into her room. When he found the room empty, he turned to leave but he noticed something that made him step futher into the room.

Sitting on the desk in the hotel room, was Nicole's laptop, which she had left open. Next to the laptop, sat a closed binder with 'Lyric Wilson' written across the front. Brady picked up the binder and flipped through it. Inside were pages filled with Nicole's hand-writing. Brady squinted to read the writing and realized that most of the pages contained rough notes that sounded like a plot in a story. Brady noticed three romance novels lying on the other side of the laptop and then discovered that each page in the binder had one of the titles of one of the novels. Brady set the binder aside and sat down at the laptop. Nicole had used her laptop so frequently in the recent past, Brady had always wondered what kind of things she did with her laptop.

Brady began searching through the files on her laptop, looking guiltily towards the door every few seconds. He found three documents stored on the laptop with the same names as the novels. There was also a few other documents, each document named more suggestively than the last. Every document was password protected so Brady went into Nicole's email inbox. Most of the emails were from someone named Elora Martin and after reading several of the emails from Elora Martin, Brady realized that she was Lyric Wilson's literary agent. After a few more seconds, it sunk in that _Nicole _was the real Lyric Wilson, not Sami. Which meant he was probably Lyric Wilson's incredibly popular muse, not Lucas. And Brady would be damned if he let Lucas take any more of the attention Brady deserved, no matter how infuated with Lucas he was.


	27. Oblivious Lucas and Lovestruck Brady

Chapter Twenty-Seven

  
  
After making his discovery, Brady stepped out into the hallway, closing the door to Nicole's hotel room quietly behind him. Lucas and Sami were no longer in the hallway and Brady wondered if he had ended up scaring them away. If that was the case, then he was very proud of himself because the last thing he wanted to see was Sami all over Lucas. _Yup, nothing brightens my day more than getting to see a Lucas and Sami make-out session_, Brady thought to himself sarcastically, walking across the hall. He reached Sami and Lucas' hotel room door and walked inside, only to find Sami and Lucas sprawled out on their bed in their hotel room. Brady cringed, wondering why he always ended up having the worst timing. _Maybe I should learn to knock before coming into people's rooms..._   
  
"Is that all you ever do?" Brady asked after a few seconds. Sami sat up, pulling herself off of Lucas and glaring at Brady.   
  
"No, it's not all we ever do." Sami struck back, "How could it be when we're always being interrupted by idiots like you?"   
  
"Ouch, I'm wounded." Brady mocked her, "I only interrupted you twice today and earlier in the hall, if I hadn't been the one to interrupt you, then someone else certainly would have. People do not like watching you two... do things to each other."   
  
"At least, you don't." Sami replied, giving Brady a knowing smile, "And I know why."   
  
"Shut up." Brady said hotly, avoiding Lucas' eyes at all costs. Brady felt his face began to flame violently and he wished he didn't wind up blushing so easily lately.   
  
"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked, "Did you need something?"   
  
Brady fidgeted nervously, "Actually, yeah I did. Could I talk to you alone for a minute, Lucas?"   
  
Sami's smiled faded, "No!" she snapped immediately, her eyes taking on a suspicious glint. Brady squinted at Sami for a minute, then spoke again.   
  
"Gee, Lucas, you're looking more and more like Sami every day. You should get help for that soon. I mean, because honestly, who wants another Sami around?"   
  
"Sure, we can talk for a minute." Lucas responded, giving Sami a curious look out of the corner of his eye.   
  
"No, you can't." Sami gripped onto Lucas' arm possessively, giving Brady another death glare, "Just get out of our hotel room and leave us alone!"   
  
Brady titled his head to one side, "Do I offend you, Sami?"   
  
"Yes!"   
  
"I thought so because your face is all pink and your eyes are buggy. It's not a good look on you. Maybe you should step outside for some air or something." Brady suggested.   
  
"I don't think so." Sami spat out angrily, "If you think for a second that I am going to let you be in here alone with Lucas so you can start-"   
  
"Start what?" Brady raised an eyebrow, doing his best to keep his composure, "There's nothing wrong with wanting to have a man to man talk with Lucas. If you would stop being such a bossy, demanding bitch, then we could get this over with a lot faster."   
  
Lucas touched Sami's arm and looked at her with confusion, "I don't know why you're acting like this but you need to calm down. Just leave for a few seconds, this shouldn't take long."   
  
Sami bit her lip nervously, "But Lucas-"   
  
"Come on, Sami." Lucas urged her, "There's nothing to worry about."   
  
Sami shook her head angrily but got off of the bed. As she was walking by Brady, she stopped to whisper in his ear, "And don't get any ideas about turning your 'man to man' talk with Lucas into man on man action because I will find out and you will end up being very, very sorry."   
  
"Don't worry, this is completely innocent." Brady assured Sami. _And Nicole's a nun_, he added silently, smirking inwardly at Sami.   
  
"Yeah, I bet." Sami mumbled, then walked past Brady and out of the room. Now that Brady was actually left alone in the same room as Lucas since he had decided he had a crush on Lucas, his mouth felt dry and he felt frozen to the floor. Lucas was looking at him expectantly, waiting for Brady to speak. Brady opened his mouth, then decided to step towards the bed.   
  
"I, um, I needed to talk to you." Brady managed to squeak out.   
  
Lucas smiled, looking mildly amused, "Yeah, I think we've already established that." he responded lightly. Brady wondered if he should just throw himself out a window right now to eliminate the humiliation he was feeling.   
  
"I know about you and Nicole." Brady added, stumbling over each word.   
  
"Excuse me? You know about me and Nicole? Well, I don't know who you've been talking to but there isn't anything going on between me and Nicole. That's incredibly off base."   
  
"No, I didn't mean it like that." Brady stuttered, "I mean, I know that you and Nicole and Sami..." Brady's voice trailed off and he realized that he had been very wrong. His earlier intentions completely dissipated and his confidence was shattered. What had he been thinking? He couldn't seduce Lucas, using the fact he knew Lucas, Sami and Nicole's secret to lure him in. He couldn't even _talk_ to Lucas, let alone hit on him. He was a complete idiot for ever thinking he could have his way with Lucas. Not wanting to make himself look like any more of a jerk, he turned around and hurried out of the room.   
  
"Hey, Brady, I thought you needed to talk to me. Brady, where are you going?" Lucas called after Brady, who didn't bother responding. He opened the door to the hotel room. Sami fell onto the ground with a thud.   
  
"I wasn't eavesdropping." Sami said quickly, getting to her feet.   
  
"Sure you weren't." Brady's shoulders slumped in defeat, "I guess you can go in there and have fun with Lucas now."   
  
"Yeah but only for a while." Sami replied, dusting off her clothes, "Then we have to get ready to go do another publicity campaign tonight. I am so glad this campaign is almost over."   
  
_You shouldn't have even gotten to do the publicity campaign_, Brady thought bitterly, _It should have been me and Nicole. _  
  
"Really? I'm glad the campaign is almost over too. But maybe I'll show up tonight. Me and Nicole. Yeah, it could work." Brady said, thinking about how to publicly make it known to everyone that he was actually Lyric Wilson's muse. Brady stepped around Sami and strode purposefully back to his hotel room. Once inside, he stopped and held up one finger in the air triumphantly.   
  
"I just thought of something." he said aloud, not caring that there was no one else in the room, "If Sami and Lucas are just faking this and pretending to Lyric Wilson and Lyric's Wilson's fiancé, then maybe they've been faking a lot more than that. Maybe Lucas doesn't really love Sami and he's just going out of his way to pretend with her. Then maybe there's a chance for me. I just have to get Lucas to love me. That shouldn't be hard. Nope, it shouldn't be hard at all. If Shawn can somehow get Nicole and Jan fighting over his cherry, then I can definitely get Lucas to convert to gayness. Yeah and I'm also going to have his baby in nine months." Brady added cynically, realizing how far-fetched his theory was. But having some hope was always better than having no hope at all.

* * *

Belle watched her sister and Lucas on her TV screen, grinning broadly, "You know, I'm kind of sad to know that Lyric's publicity campaign is ending but I'm also glad because that means my sister is going to come back to Salem."   
  
Mimi frowned at Belle, "You know her name, Belle. Why are you calling her Lyric?"   
  
"Because I _like_ calling her Lyric." Belle returned, "It sounds so much prettier than Sami. And I'll call her whatever I want, so mind your own business."   
  
Before Mimi could reply to that comment, Rex held up his hand to silence Mimi, "Just leave it alone, Meems. We all know how moody she's been ever since Shawn left to go find Jan."   
  
"_Don't say his name_!" Belle shrilled, smacking Rex's shoulder hard. Rex turned to give Belle a heavy-lidded, threatening expression.   
  
"Hit me again." Rex challenged Belle, who shrunk back in response, "Come on, I _dare_ you."   
  
"You guys, be quiet, this is the good part." Phillip intervened, his eyes not leaving the television set. The host of the talk show Lucas and Sami were on had just said something about two surprise guests preparing to join Lucas and Sami.   
  
Belle rolled her eyes, "Who cares about the stupid guests? I just want to see my sister."   
  
"And we all just want you to stop whining." Rex muttered under his breath. Belle jumped off the couch to go get something to drink. While she was in the kitchen, a blond man emerged, tugging a slender blonde woman onto the stage with him.   
  
"Look, it's Brady and Nicole." Mimi announced.   
  
"Yeah, it is." Phillip turned his attention to Belle, "Look, it's your brother."   
  
Belle sat back down on the couch, "He's not my brother anymore." she sniffed indignantly.   
  
The talk show cameraman zoomed in on Brady and Nicole. Nicole looked distressed and was looking around the room nervously while Brady's face was darkened with determination.   
  
"Now, Mr. Black, you said there was something very important you needed to tell us about Lyric Wilson. What is it?" the talk show host inquired.   
  
Brady cleared his throat, turning to see the confused and doubtful expressions on Lucas and Sami's faces, "Yes, I did. Thank you for letting me come up here today. I think everyone definitely needs to know that Sami Brady is not Lyric Wilson. She has been pretending this entire time and the real Lyric Wilson is right here." Brady swung Nicole around so she was facing the audience.   
  
The talk show host looked shocked, "There must be some mistake." she said, her eyes wide as she looked from Lucas to Sami to Brady to Nicole, "What he's saying can't be true. Can it?"   
  
"Tell them the truth, Nicole. Don't let _Sami_ take credit for all the hard work you put into your writing." Brady turned to glare at Sami, who returned the dirty look.   
  
"What's going on with Brady and Sami? What does Brady have against her?" Mimi asked.   
  
"Haven't you heard?" Phillip turned to Mimi, "Brady's in love with Lucas. I think the fact that Sami is sleeping with the man Brady loves qualifies."   
  
"Brady is _lying_." Belle said fiercely, "Sami's not pretending. She is Lyric Wilson, I know it."   
  
"I don't know what he's talking about." Nicole told the talk show host innocently, "He dragged me here and said he knew my secret. But I honestly have no clue what he's talking about."   
  
"Nicole, don't act like you don't know what I mean." Brady shook his head with frustration, "Don't lie in front of all these people. Those were your books, your words. Sami is too stupid to pull something like this off-"   
  
"You're the stupid one." Sami shot back.   
  
"No, you are!" Brady exclaimed, his voice dangerously high, "You think that you're better than everyone else just because you're with Lucas and you're not. I bet he doesn't even like you!"   
  
"Oh, you wish. You're just jealous." Sami smirked at him, "You want Lucas for yourself and that's why you're trying to destroy me." Sami turned to look at the crowd, "That's right. Brady is gay and in love with my fiancé and now you all know it."   
  
"You're not Lyric Wilson!" Brady shouted, then turned to Nicole and Lucas desperately, "You both know this is a joke. Tell the truth. Lucas, please?"   
  
"Brady, he does not return your feelings. He's not going to take your side." Sami informed Brady.   
  
Lucas didn't say anything, instead he looked dazed at the idea that Brady actually had feelings for him that weren't pretend.   
  
"Nicole, don't you have any self-respect?" Brady demanded, "How can you let Sami get all the glory that you've earned. If you let Sami get away with this, then you are nothing but a pathetic _loser_."   
  
It was obvious that Brady's last remarks had a great impact on Nicole. After a few seconds of silence, Nicole finally seemed to cave in and spoke, "He's right. I am Lyric Wilson. Isn't that right, Sami?"   
  
Sami hesitated for a few moments, looking from Brady to Nicole, "Yes, it's true." Sami admitted, hanging her head. Everyone gasped and Belle howled angrily.   
  
"My life is over!" Belle shrilled, "My brother is a pregnant homosexual, my sister is a faker, my mommy ran away and my dad is so busy looking for an abortion clinic that will treat men, he never pays any attention to me anymore. Oh, and my boyfriend ran away to chase after a crazy bitch! What happened to the wonderful life I deserve? Why doesn't anyone notice my pain?"   
  
"Oh my God, shut up!" Rex and Mimi said in unison.   
  
The talk show host was talking again, "Well, now that you all have officially made a mess of this talk show segment, I think it's best that we take a break. We'll be back in a few minutes, thanks for watching."


	28. Packing

Chapter Twenty-Eight

  
  
Brady, Nicole and Sami argued relentlessly the whole limo ride back to the hotel. Nicole and Sami were both ganging up on Brady and Brady was yelling at Sami and for the most part, Lucas was just watching the three of them.   
  
Sami had clearly gotten sick of screaming at Brady and focused on Nicole instead, "And what the hell were you thinking? How could you leave your things where Brady could find them and figure out the truth? And on top of that, how could you let him drag you down the talk show and screw everything up?"   
  
"I didn't know where he was taking me." Nicole shot back, looking over at Brady helplessly, "I also didn't know that he was going to go into my room and look at all my stuff. Of course, I shouldn't have been so stupid. I've known for a while now that Brady has the hardest time minding his own business."   
  
"You're right, you _shouldn't_ have been so stupid." Sami hissed, "Now everything is ruined."   
  
"It's not ruined." Brady told her irately, "It was ruined from day one, so you can't ruin something that's already ruined. You and Lucas should have stayed out of this. It was between Nicole and me."   
  
"You?" Nicole looked at him skeptically, "How does that work?"   
  
Brady squirmed in his seat nervously, "Well, I heard about how Lyric Wilson was supposed to have an incredibly gorgeous fiancé that was her inspiration. I just assumed that... I was that guy. Because, you know, a lot of people find me very hard to resist." Brady looked directly at Lucas while he was saying this. Lucas grimaced in response.   
  
"Come on, don't look at me like." Lucas groaned, shaking his head, "It's really not cool."   
  
"No, it isn't." Sami gave Lucas a pointed look, "Do you understand why I didn't want to leave you two alone now?"   
  
"Yeah but you didn't need to worry. Brady wouldn't have done anything, I think I've already made it clear how I feel. And in case I haven't," Lucas looked directly at Brady, "I do not and will not ever like you in that way, got that?"   
  
"Aw, that was harsh, Lucas. You're going to make him cry." Nicole said sarcastically, "On second thought, go ahead and continue because Brady deserves to suffer. Oh and Brady, don't assume things. You were not my inspiration. Truth be told, I had a huge crush on one of the gardeners."   
  
Brady looked from Lucas to Nicole with a hurt expression on his face, "I don't get why you're all mad at me. I only did it for Nicole's sake. Nicole, I was trying to be a friend to you. You deserved to have people know that you were the writer, not Sami and-"   
  
"You didn't do it for me." Nicole stated bluntly, "You did it for yourself. Either you were doing it to spite Sami because Lucas likes her and not you or you did it for another one of your own reasons."   
  
"Nicole, that's not true-"   
  
"Yes, it is." Nicole cut him off, holding up her hand to silence him, "It's never been about me. I tried to get you to fall for me but nothing I did seemed to work. I mean, instead of falling for me, you fell for a guy, which proves just how stupid I was for ever thinking we could have something. So, you know what? Have fun lusting after Lucas even when you know it's not going to get you anywhere because I am completely fed up with you." Nicole pressed her head against the window and looked away from Brady, not wanting to see his expression.   
  
"Nicole, I never asked to fall for- him." Brady finished, giving an almost imperceptible nod in Lucas' direction. Nicole didn't pull her face away from the window.   
  
"I certainly don't remember asking to fall for you either." Nicole murmured, "I don't think you ever get to choose."   
  
"Would you just let me talk to you for two seconds?" Brady asked desperately.   
  
"Go cry to your boyfriend." Nicole shot back angrily.   
  
"Hey!" Lucas yelped indignantly, "I am not his boyfriend. I'm not even his friend."   
  
Brady seemed stunned by this revelation, "You're not?" he asked in a small voice.   
  
Before Lucas could answer, Sami opened the door to the limo, "Thank God, we're back at the hotel. I really think Nicole and Brady could use some time alone together to sort out their problems." Sami stepped outside the limo but Lucas hesitated for a minute.   
  
"What are we going to do now?" Lucas asked Nicole, who finally looked up from the window, "I mean, since Brady's kind of messed up this entire thing."   
  
"I don't know. Get ready to go back to Salem, I guess. I'll get in touch with my agent and tell her the campaign is over. But thanks to Brady, she's probably pissed at me too." Nicole had her arms crossed and was glaring at Brady. Lucas nodded and scooted out of the limousine.   
  
"All right, I guess we should go. You two have fun." Lucas said, beginning to make his way back to the hotel with Sami at his side. Nicole didn't make a move to leave the limo, instead she stared intently at the seat across from her, her eyes narrowed viciously. Brady sighed and took hold of Nicole's arm.   
  
"You're not leaving until I say something to you." he informed her.   
  
"Did I look like I was going anywhere?" Nicole retorted, trying not to focus on what the feel of his hand touching her was doing to her.   
  
"Nicole, I'll admit it. Part of the reason for telling the truth might have been to get back at Sami. But there was more to it than that. If you really wrote books that ended up being so popular... then you're very talented. And you did deserve to be recognized for that."   
  
Nicole shook his hand off, "Don't you get it? I wasn't ready to be recognized. Having Victor still in my life made things too complicated. I agreed to do this campaign so I could divorce Victor and still be able to support myself. I wanted to surprise when I got back to Salem. You know, just once I wanted to do something that might make you think I was more than a gold-digging, self-centered whore. But you did one hell of a job of ruining that for me, didn't you?"   
  
"Oh, God." Nicole could hear the guilt surfacing in Brady's voice, "I had no idea. I'm so sorry."   
  
Nicole almost melted against the genuinely remorseful tone in Brady's voice but once she realized what she was doing, she steeled herself against his words, "I don't care anymore. Just leave me alone."   
  
Nicole didn't let herself look at Brady, knowing that if she did, she probably wouldn't be able to control herself. Lately, she hadn't be able to tell what she wanted to do more- tear him apart or tear his clothes off. She was very undecided on that and she knew that both options weren't good ones. That was why she waited a few minutes before moving, waiting until Brady was out of sight before leaving the limousine.

* * *

Sami held the fake engagement ring between two fingers, staring doubtfully at the trash can. Since the publicity campaign was over, she didn't need to wear the ring anymore and she didn't particularly want to, considering the fact that it had been supposed to be for Chloe. But for some reason, she was having a hard time parting with it. Maybe it was because the ring had been such a huge part of what she and Lucas had been pretending to do. For a while, wearing the ring had actually managed to make her feel like she had actually been Lucas' fiancé. True, Lucas had said he was going to get her a real engagement ring once they were back in Salem but had he really meant it or was had he just been caught up in the moment? Would things really stay so good between them once thing returned to Salem?   
  
Sami couldn't believe she was already starting to doubt her relationship with Lucas when the publicity campaign had only ended less than two hours ago. But she couldn't help dreading the return to Salem and facing everyone after the Brady-induced disaster at the last talk show. Sami was especially dreading how Kate would react when Sami and Lucas returned. If Kate had seen the last talk show appearance, Sami had a feeling that Kate would have probably jumped to a lot of conclusions by now. Kate probably assumed that she and Lucas weren't going to be together when they returned to Salem. But that was wrong. It had to be.   
  
Unless Sami and Lucas really had gotten too caught up in the publicity campaign and didn't really feel so strongly and affectionately about each other. _No_, Sami corrected herself, _I know how I feel about Lucas. I'm just not sure if it's the same for him or if he just decided it was easier to pretend to be in love with me during the past her few weeks rather than continue playing two different parts. _  
  
Sami stifled a gasp when she felt a hand drop onto her shoulder from behind. She whirled around to face Lucas, realizing that she had been so lost in her thoughts, she had temporarily forgotten she wasn't the only one there. Lucas' eyes were questioning and Sami tried unsuccessfully to push her previous thoughts out of her mind.   
  
"Aren't you going to start packing?" he asked her. Sami clenched her fist around the ring, letting the cold metal dig into her palm. She smiled weakly at Lucas, hoping he wouldn't see that she was upset.   
  
"Yeah, in a minute." Sami responded hastily, "Hey, one of us should find Shawn and Jan and tell them that we're leaving. I'm pretty sure Nicole will want to get back to Salem as soon as possible, judging from her frame of mind." _But I don't, _Sami thought, her throat feeling constricted, _I would rather stay here. _  
  
"Sure, I can go tell them." Lucas regarded Sami carefully for a few moments but finally turned and left the hotel room. Sami took a deep breath and unclenched her fist. She stared at the engagement ring for another minute or two before tossing it in the trash can.

* * *

"Won't Nicole be mad that we're using her computer?" Shawn asked as Jan continued scrolling through various websites.   
  
"Probably." Jan responded evenly, not sounding very worried, "But it's all good because she's always mad at me. I don't care anymore. Hm, click here." Jan read aloud, the cursor hovering over the link at the bottom of the page, "Okay."   
  
"Jan, you shouldn't just click on random links on the internet. It's not safe." Shawn reprimanded her.   
  
"So? It's fun. You never know what you're going to find." Jan said, waiting for the page to load. The website consisted of a dark blue screen with nothing on it but Jan could hear something in the background. Jan turned up the volume and discovered that there was a sound recording of a bunch of kids saying the Lord's Prayer on the website.   
  
"They sound so innocent." Shawn titled his head, "_Too_ innocent."   
  
"Let's turn up the volume some more." Jan suggested, raising the volume a few more notches. Suddenly, pictures of burning bodies and other very grotesque things began popping up on the scream and shrill scream cut off the Lord's Prayer. Jan shrieked and fell off her chair, cowering underneath the chair fearfully. Shawn quickly exited the website and turned to Jan, who was slowly climbing back onto the chair.   
  
"Dude," Jan panted, "That was incredibly frightening. What kind of people make demented sites like that?"   
  
"I don't know." Shawn rolled his eyes, "No more surfing the web, okay? Bad things happen. Let me check my email."   
  
"Hey, what if we went to hotmale.com?" Jan asked, grinning wickedly, "You know, not like the kind of email- mail but the hot guy kind of male. I want to try it."   
  
"Jan, I just said no more surfing. Jan, that's sick! Oh, shit, my eyes are bleeding!" Shawn cried, turning away from the screen.   
  
"Yes, I'd love to enter your site." Jan told the computer, clicking with the mouse again. Jan squealed happily at all the lovely pictures on the screen. Shawn opened his eyes, then groaned again.   
  
"You know, that guy looks like Lucas." Shawn noted, before deciding he really needed to go to the bathroom to bleach his eyes out after seeing such awful pictures.   
  
"It is Lucas." Jan shot back, "This is his secret job. No one knows about it but me."   
  
"Ew, Jan." Shawn sounded incredibly grossed out, "How can you say that about Lucas?"   
  
"Say what?"   
  
"Ahhhhhhh!" Jan toppled off her chair for a second time at the sound of Lucas' voice. When she got to her feet, Lucas was looking at her like she was crazy.   
  
"Don't look at me like that. I just had a near death experience with the evilness of the internet." Jan informed him crossly.   
  
"Really?" Lucas sounded amused.   
  
"Really." Jan confirmed, "Show him the website, Shawn."   
  
Lucas moved over to see what was on the website, then turned away in disgust, "I can understand how that could be a near death experience. I think I'm going to be sick. I'm sorry but I don't like that kind of stuff. Go find Brady, he'll enjoy it."   
  
"No, not this one." Jan responded, "The one where the evil kids were praying, then there was this scream and these pictures..."   
  
"Okay then, you're not making any sense but whatever. Anyways, I just came in here to tell you that we're leaving."   
  
"Leaving?"   
  
"Going back to Salem." Lucas elaborated, seeming to be in a rush to leave the room, "But I don't want to go into details right now. I have to get back to my room and start packing. You guys should start packing too."   
  
"Sure." Shawn was glad to have an excuse to get away from Jan and the deadly 'hotmale.com', "I'll go start packing right now."   
  
"Me too. I can help you and then you can help me." Jan said, following Shawn out of the room. She had no idea why all of them were returning to Salem so quickly but she certainly didn't mind. Ever since she and Shawn had gotten so close, Jan had been extremely excited about the prospect of going back to Salem and seeing Belle's reaction to what had happened between Jan and Shawn. And Jan knew that throwing her success with Shawn in Belle's face was going to be nothing short of sheer bliss.


	29. Return To Salem

Chapter Twenty-Nine

  
  
Lucas knocked on the door to Jennifer's home, expecting Jennifer or Will to come to the door. But instead of Will or Jennifer, the door swung open to reveal a very anxious looking Kate. When she saw Lucas, her face brightened and she threw her arms around her son.   
  
"Lucas, I'm so happy you're back." Kate gushed, pulling away from him, "I've missed you so much, the past few weeks have felt like an eternity."   
  
Sami eyed Kate skeptically over Lucas' shoulder, "Aren't you overdoing it just a little?" Sami asked as Jennifer came out to stand next to Kate, her face apologetic.   
  
"She knew you were coming." Jennifer began to explain Kate's presence, "She refused to leave because she said she had to see you right away, Lucas."   
  
"Isn't that sweet?" Sami said sarcastically, she nose wrinkling in disgust, "Mommy can't bear to go too long without seeing her son. It would be way too difficult to leave him alone and let him have his own life, wouldn't it?"   
  
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Lyric Wilson." Kate finally acknowledged Sami snidely, "Why don't you go write something and leave Lucas alone? Because God knows he never liked you. He was only in it for the money, which he now realizes you don't have since everyone realizes that you are a fraud."   
  
"Yeah but it was fun while it lasted. And it sure fooled you, didn't it, Kate?" Sami shot back.   
  
"Who cares if you fooled me? The bottom line is, you lost. Lucas and you were just playing a part and now the part you had to play is finished. So, everything can go back to the way it should be. You and Lucas keep your hands off each other and we're all happy, yes?"   
  
"No." Lucas spoke up, "Mom, just because I'm back in Salem does not give you the right to tell me how to run my relationship with Sami. Just leave it alone, all right?"   
  
Kate sniffed, "Lucas, don't talk to me like that. I'm just trying to do what's best for you. I can't for the life of me figure out why you decided to pretend to be engaged to Sami but it doesn't matter anymore. The point is, you don't love Sami and now you're free to let that be known to everyone."   
  
"You're wrong." a small voice piped up from behind Jennifer and all four adults turned to see Will. Sami's eyes lit up and she extended her arms to Will.   
  
"Will!" Sami exclaimed, giving him a hug, "It's so good to see you again. Did you have a good time with Abby and Jennifer?"   
  
"I had fun." Will said slowly, still glaring at Kate, "Mom, tell grandma the truth. You and dad are in love, right? You're going to get married and we're all going to be a family, right?"   
  
Sami froze, unsure of what to say in response to that. She turned to Lucas for support, who just looked at her hopefully. Kate huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for Sami to reply. Everyone was watching her and she was at a loss for words. When Sami went a few more seconds without saying anything, Kate spoke again.   
  
"He doesn't love you, Sami." she said cruelly, "It was all a game and now it's over."   
  
"Mom!" Lucas intervened sharply, looking over in Will's direction pointedly, "Stop talking like that. Sami and I are-"   
  
Sami didn't want Lucas to finish the sentence. She couldn't deal with him or Kate right now, "I have to go see Belle." Sami made up a quick excuse, "I'll, um, see you later, Will. Lucas." she added quickly before turning around and leaving the house. Ignoring the protests from Lucas and Will and the taunts from Kate, she continued walking down the driveway, farther away from Jennifer's home. Once she was out of range of the house, she kicked at the concrete sidewalk, wondering why she had felt so unsure of herself lately. Things between Lucas and herself had been strained ever since Nicole had announced that they were all going back to Salem and she knew she only had herself to blame for that. This was one of the few times in her life where she didn't know what to say to Lucas. Usually, their conversations weren't strained at all but things had seemed to change overnight. Sami knew Lucas could tell something was wrong but every time he tried to bring up the issue, Sami had pushed him away.   
  
Sami knew that she loved Lucas. She knew that she didn't want their relationship to end just because their role-playing game had, just because they were back in Salem. She just didn't know how to tell Lucas that or if it would even matter to him. Between Brady falling in love with Lucas and Nicole and Jan fighting over Shawn's cherry, things had gotten really out of hand. And Sami couldn't help wonder if Jan, Nicole, Shawn and Brady weren't the only ones who had gotten carried away. Was it possible that now that Lucas was back in Salem, he wouldn't want to continue being with Sami the way he had when she had pretended to be Lyric Wilson? Maybe he wanted their time together away from Salem to stay out of their everyday lives. It was possible that he had only been looking for a fling, something fun but brief, with no strings attached. Everything he had said to her- what if had just been part of the fling, part of the spontaneity of being together and pretending to be two people they weren't?   
  
Sami knew she was jumping to conclusions and willed herself to stop. But the scared, insecure part of her kept thinking up new possibilities. She knew the best way to approach things was to talk to Lucas about it but the truth was, she was afraid of what he would say to her. Sighing, Sami continued down the sidewalk and wondered what Nicole was doing. The last she had heard, Nicole was running off to get a divorce with Victor and find a new place to live. Maybe she could talk to Nicole about her problems before talking to Lucas about them. Nicole already had to deal with the fact that Brady liked Lucas more than her, so Nicole would probably be kind of understanding. Not like Jan, who had been seemingly joined at the hips with Shawn for the past few days. Sami stopped for a moment, wondering which way she should go to find Nicole. She might be at the mansion but she could also be off looking for a new house or something. Sami finally decided to call Nicole but before she could reach into her purse for her cell phone, someone grabbed her arm. She turned around, expecting to see Lucas but her eyes widened with surprise when she saw who had been standing behind her. 


	30. Rewards And Making Up

Chapter Thirty

  
  
**Author's Note: Sorry that the last chapter was so short but I certainly made up for it in this chapter. It's a lot longer than my chapters usually are. I had no idea it was getting so long. I'm trying to wrap this story up so there should only be a couple more chapters to come.**  
  
The minute Brady had overheard Brandon talking to Nicole and asking her where he could find Sami, Brady had decided to follow him to see what he was going to do. This was partly because he wasn't on speaking terms with a lot of people, including Nicole, his dad, his grandfather, Chloe, Jan, Shawn, Lucas, Sami, Belle and probably a lot of others and was very bored. He was also following Brandon because he almost hoped that Brandon would end up coming between Lucas and Sami. If Brandon stole Sami away from Lucas, then that would leave a sad, vulnerable Lucas out in the open for Brady. Brady would comfort him and eventually, just like Chloe, Lucas would come around and realize how he _really_ felt.   
  
_And he says I'm not his friend_, Brady scoffed inwardly, _Who is he trying to fool? I'm probably his best friend. Who else would go through this much trouble to get him to fall in love with them? _  
  
Brady watched Brandon take hold of Sami's arm, then whirl her around from his place behind the bushes. Sami looked up at Brandon, her eyes wide.   
  
"Brandon." Sami stated in a semi-flat voice, removing his hand from her arm, "I didn't expect to see you. What are you doing back in Salem?"   
  
"Looking for you." Brandon said and Brady could almost hear the smile in his voice. Sami, on the other hand, was not even making an effort to return the smile, Brady noted. D_amn you, go off with muscle man so I can have you boyfriend. You know you want it._ Brady urged Sami silently, "I was wondering if we could talk." Brandon added.   
  
"Sure." Sami replied uneasily, "So talk."   
  
Brandon looked from side to side, as if checking to see if anyone else was around, "Well, why don't we take a walk? You know, this could take while, considering we have so much to catch up on."   
  
_And why don't you do this 'catching up' in a happy little bedroom, so I can tell Lucas all about it_, Brady thought, creeping along in the bushes, following them. As they walked, Brandon seemed to be trying to keep up a conversation but Sami didn't seem very enthusiastic. After about five minutes, both people lapsed into silence, _They're boring. No wonder Brandon left her_. After a few more minutes of walking in silence, Sami stopped abruptly.   
  
"Well, it was nice talking to you." Sami said without putting very much feeling into her words, "But I have other things to do, so I guess I should leave now." she tried to turn to leave but Brandon stopped her.   
  
"You can't leave yet." Brandon's voice verged on desperation, "There's still a lot left that we need to talk about. Just let me walk you back to... your apartment? That is where you need to go, right?" when Sami didn't respond and continued to stare hard at him, Brandon squirmed with discomfort, "Please, Sami? It shouldn't take that long."   
  
_What shouldn't take long?_ Brady wondered evilly, still sending silent messages to Sami, _Hey, didn't he just say it would take a long time? Come on, Sami, this guy is full of horseshit but listen to him anyway. It will be better for everyone in the end. Especially me. _  
  
"Fine." Sami's shoulders dropped reluctantly and she fell into step with Brandon again, "But this better not take long. I honestly can't figure out what we could possibly have to say to each other."   
  
_Who says Brandon wants to talk?_ Brady grinned, _Nope, he has other plans in store for you. Plans that will make Lucas run into my big, strong arms for comfort. I hope. _  
  
On the way back to Sami's apartment building, Brandon still tried to talk to Sami but Sami was still very cold to him, only giving him one or two word answers. They returned to Sami's apartment building and Brandon gently took hold of Sami's wrist.   
  
"Can we stop by my car for a second? I knew I would be meeting you here, so I left my car in the parking lot. I have something for you." Brady snickered to himself, wondering just what Brandon had for Sami in his car. He followed the two of them down to the parking lot. They stopped beside one of the cars which was parked in the corner of the parking lot. Brady ducked behind the car closest to Brandon's so he could continue spying on Sami and Brandon.   
  
Sami leaned against the side of Brandon's car and flipped her hair over her shoulder impatiently, "Can you hurry up? I really don't feel like dealing with you right now."   
  
Suddenly, as if Sami had hit a nerve, Brandon changed his entire demeanor. Brady could see his back stiffen and he watched Brandon push Sami against the car roughly.   
  
"So, I'm half of the size of Lucas?" Brandon growled angrily, his right hand encircling Sami's wrist tightly, "I don't measure up at all?"   
  
Brady vaguely remembered Sami throwing out insults about Brandon on the Sharon Osbourne Show, although after seeing Nicole, he hadn't paid that much attention. But he still knew that Brandon had to be talking about the Sharon Osbourne Show. Sami looked shocked and confused for a moment, then a smile of realization lit up her face.   
  
"Oh, right, I forgot I had even said that about you. You know, it's that easy with you, out of sight, out of mind." Sami chuckled maliciously, "Well, it's not like you have a right to be upset. Both of us know it's true, even if everyone else thought I was saying it out of spite."   
  
_How the hell would Brandon know how big Lucas is?_ Brady wondered, _Is there something they're not telling me? What, so Brandon's good enough for Lucas but I'm not? That bastard! _  
  
Sami's words aggravated Brandon further and leaned down closer to her, "And you definitely did not fake orgasm, you lying whore."   
  
"Actually, I did. But that's not such a big deal considering you faked everything else in our relationship. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me go."   
  
"I don't think so." Brandon responded in a dangerously low voice, "You made me look like a completely incompetent moron in front of millions of people and I'm not just going to stand by and take it."   
  
"It looks like you're going to have to." Sami shot back, kicking him hard in the shin. He winced but didn't loosen his hold on her. She struggled against Brandon but his grip was firm and unshakable.   
  
"Oh, no, I won't." his voice taunted her, "I'm going to take you off somewhere private and we'll see if you really do fake orgasm."   
  
Sami's eyes were round with outrage, "I know you're stronger than me. I'm not stupid. But if you get near me with that thing, I will bite it off."   
  
Brandon threw his head back and laughed, "Talk about a fabulous pick-up line. Did Lucas teach you to be aggressive like that? Too bad he's queer with your step-brother, Brady or whatever."   
  
_If only_, Brady sighed wistfully.   
  
"Fuck off, Brandon. Just leave me the hell alone. Because, you know what, I'm sick of you. I'm tired of getting caught up in the love triangle between you and yourself. That's the only person you truly care about so why don't you just go marry yourself and let me be with the man who treats me good and cares about me?" Brady watched Brandon shove Sami violently against the back of the car. After hearing the sharp banging sound of Sami's head connecting with the car, Brady saw Sami go limp and her eyes close.   
  
Quickly, Brady considered his choices in this situation. Let Brandon take Sami away and do things that could ultimately destroy Lucas and Sami's relationship and put Sami thought hell, or do Lucas a favour and get Sami away from Brandon immediately. _Poor Lucas_, Brady couldn't resist thinking, _He would be so angry if he knew what Brandon was doing to Sami. And he would be so crushed if he found out that Brandon had succeeded. Not to mention the fact that he'd hate me forever if he found out I let Brandon get away with this without even trying to stop him_. Brady knew he couldn't do that to Lucas, even if it meant that Brady would end up saving Lucas and Sami's relationship. Despite his intense attraction to Lucas, he did want Lucas to be happy. And maybe underneath all the jealousy and resentment he felt towards her, Brady wanted Sami to be happy too.   
  
Brady watched Brandon drag Sami around to the passenger's side of his car and Brady looked around frantically for some item of... protection. Because Brandon was big and muscly and creepy and Brady didn't want to sacrifice himself too much, it was Sami he was trying to save, after all. He noticed a metal pipe lying a few feet away from him and sighed with relief. _Thank God for the happy old metal pipe_, Brady thought, crawling towards the pipe. He got to his feet and crept up behind Brandon. Closing his eyes, he brought down the pipe over the back of Brandon's head. Brandon and Sami were both unconscious now and Brady turned to Sami. He tried shaking her awake but she didn't react. Sighing, he picked her up and carried her out of the parking lot, wondering which apartment was Sami's. But thankfully, before he could try and figure that out, a car pulled into the parking lot. Lucas and Will both jumped out of the car upon seeing Sami and Brady, their faces contorted with fear.   
  
"What happened to my mom? Is she okay? What are you doing to her?" Will demanded, his voice high and accusing.   
  
"N-nothing. It wasn't my fault." Brady hastily defended himself against Will's perusing glare. _Who does this kid think he is? I don't swing that way. Well, I do but not with people like Sami._ Brady thought to himself, handing Sami over to Lucas, "Here, take her."   
  
"What is going on? How did this happen?" Lucas asked, hugging Sami tightly against his chest.   
  
"Can we talk about it once we get to your apartment or something?" Brady questioned, not wanting to tell the whole story in front of Will.   
  
"You want to go up to my apartment." Lucas looked at him nervously, "I think we should, you know, go to Sami's instead."   
  
_He gives me no jo_y, Brady's inner voice whined but Brady made sure to silence it. He didn't want to see Lucas' apartment that badly anyway. Brady followed Lucas up to Sami's apartment, which Lucas let himself into once they reached it. Will went into his bedroom to unpack his suitcases and Lucas set Sami down on the couch carefully before directing his attention at Brady.   
  
"What happened?" Lucas repeated.   
  
"Brandon was a little upset at her for making fun of him on some talk show, so he decided he wanted to attack her." Brady stated bluntly, "And I followed Brandon and stopped him before he could do anything to her." Brady threw Lucas a winning smile.   
  
"Brandon did what? Where is he?" Lucas got to his feat, his eyes flickering with rage.   
  
"I knocked him out." Brady explained, "He's in the parking lot." when Lucas tried to move past Brady towards the door, Brady grabbed his arm, "I think he'll be there for a while, there's no hurry. Don't leave me alone with Sami."   
  
"Right." Lucas didn't sound much calmer but he turned back to Sami.   
  
"Oh, and you're welcome." Brady mumbled sarcastically, hurt that Lucas hadn't even taken the time to thank him.   
  
"Sorry, Brady. I do appreciate you saving Sami, I don't know what I would have done if Brandon had..." Lucas' jaw clenched and he didn't finish the sentence, "I guess I was a little distracted but thank you."   
  
Brady smiled again, "Do I get a reward?" Brady asked, his eyes fixated on Lucas' mouth. Lucas yanked his arm away from Brady and held up his arms in protest.   
  
"Step _away_ from the merchandise." Lucas snapped, "I'm not giving you a reward that has... anything to do with _me_. I think Sami has some candy in her pantry somewhere. Go eat some of that, that can be your reward."   
  
"Candy?" Brady repeated with defeat, "I have once again, been harshly rejected."   
  
Lucas ignored Brady and was shaking Sami, trying to wake her up. His hands parted the hair covering the back of Sami's head and Lucas checked for any bleeding. After thoroughly checking the back of Sami's head, Lucas looked up at Brady.   
  
"She's not bleeding. How hard did he hit her?"   
  
"He slammed her head against the back of the car but I don't think he did it that hard. Just hard enough to knock her out. I think he had other things on his mind." Brady answered, still upset at Lucas for not giving him a decent reward. Brady didn't want candy, there was only one kind of candy Brady was interested in and that happened to be Lucas.   
  
Lucas nodded shortly and went back to shaking Sami. After a few more minutes, Sami opened her eyes and peered up at Lucas in confusion. Lucas helped her into a sitting position and Sami rubbed the back of her head.   
  
"Where did Brandon go?" Sami asked groggily. Lucas cleared his throat and looked over at Brady.   
  
"He's outside. I saved you." Brady informed her, still pouting., "But I don't know why I bothered, for all the good it did me. Candy." Brady scoffed under his breath. Then he had an idea and looked up at Lucas, "If I beat up Brandon, can I have a reward?"   
  
"Sure, you have fun with that." Lucas said. Brady didn't seem to notice the sarcasm and nodded happily. He left the apartment, allowing Sami and Lucas to have some time alone with each other. Sami shifted uncomfortably on the couch and lowered her eyes away from Lucas'.   
  
"I didn't think Brandon would actually try something like that." Sami mumbled, "I mean, I knew he might have been a little mad but I didn't actually think that he would-"   
  
"Sh, Sami, don't worry about it." Lucas soothed her, pulling her into his arms and rubbing her slow, comforting circles on her back with his palm, "Don't worry about him anymore. Once I get through with him, he'll never even think about touching you again." the way Lucas' voice hardened when he mentioned Brandon made Sami sure that Lucas was going to live up to what he had said.   
  
"Thank you." Sami said in a small voice, not knowing what else to say after walking out of Jennifer's home so abruptly. But she didn't need to say anything because Lucas spoke for her.   
  
"Sami..." Lucas began, his voice trailing off as he took hold of one of hands nervously, "I think we need to talk. You seem to be really upset lately and I can't figure out why. I don't want to lose you but I don't know what you want from me anymore."   
  
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been really confused about... us." Sami finished, relieved that she was finally talking to Lucas and addressing her fears, "I didn't know what you wanted to do after the publicity campaign ended. Now, I'm afraid that-" Sami felt her throat tighten and she barely managed to choke out the rest of the sentence, "That you want what we have to end because the publicity campaign has."   
  
Lucas stared at her in horror, "Sami, no!" he softened his voice and stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb, "I do love you. It's not a game, it just... is." Lucas finished simply, "And I don't want anything between us to end. I told you I wanted to marry you and I meant it."   
  
A contented smile broke out across Sami's face and her face reddened slightly, "I love you too, Lucas. I can't believe I went all those days without just talking to you about it."   
  
"I can't believe it either. Idiot." Lucas added, although it sounded more like a term of an endearment than an insult. He lowered his head to kiss the tip of her nose before moving down to brush against her mouth with his lips. He then deepened the kiss, his tongue finding her lips and he coaxed them open, nibbling on her bottom lip lightly as his tongue skimmed the roof of her mouth. They continued to kiss each other deeply until the loud coughing sounds coming from the door to Sami's apartment caused them to break free of their kiss. Jan, Shawn and Will were all smirking at Lucas and Sami.   
  
"You were obviously too busy to hear them knocking, so I had to let them in." Will explained, grinning at his parents, "But that's okay because now I know that grandma Kate is completely wrong and that you do love each other."   
  
Sami laughed, still slightly breathless, "That's right, Will. We do."   
  
Jan interrupted the conversation, "Wow, that's so sweet, I think I'm going to cry." she turned to give Will a tiny smile, "Hey, do you mind if we talk to your mom and dad alone for a minute?" Will nodded and left the room, then Jan grinned at Lucas and Sami.   
  
"You two are so great. I knew you'd work things out." Jan said, coming over to sit next to Sami on the couch, "And now, there is only one more thing we need to do and Shawn and I need your help."   
  
"With what?" Lucas asked, looking at Jan guardedly.   
  
"Nicole's been really sad since we got back to Salem. She should be happy, since she's finally divorcing old man Kiriakas and everything but she's not because of Brady. So, we all have to work together and make Brady like girls again. And since he is currently in love with Lucas, we figured that you two would be the best people to help us succeed." Jan smiled broadly as she proceeded to fill Lucas and Sami in on her plan. 


	31. Lucas Who?

Chapter Thirty-One

  
  
"You see, Brady obviously _enjoys_ it when people play hard to get with him. Even if Brady did like kissing Lucas, what really got to him was Lucas punching him for it. He saw that as Lucas playing hard to get with him." Jan explained.   
  
"What, so this is _my_ fault?" Lucas demanded, looking insulted.

"Not totally." Jan answered evasively, "Brady is a very messed-up guy. Chloe was a challenge and for a while, I think Nicole was too. Once Nicole stopped being unattainable, I think Brady lost interest. And now that she's giving him the cold shoulder again, he likes her again."

"And Brady told you all this?" Shawn asked doubtfully.

"No, I just know it's true." Jan told him in an arrogant voice, "I am a very perceptive person."

"I'm sure you are. Hey, since my mother is missing in action, why don't you use your awesome perceptiveness to shrink her clients?" Sami suggested, shaking her head in disgust, "Because you're certainly not helping us get Brady to stop lusting after Lucas with your perceptiveness."

"I was getting to that." Jan shot back, "My plan was to get Lucas to stop playing hard to get and get to him to do the exact opposite instead."

"I really don't see what good that's going to do." Lucas sounded horrified.

"Don't freak out, Lucas." Jan scolded him, "Give me a chance to explain." when Lucas, Sami and Shawn all fell silent, Jan cleared her throat dramatically, basking in the their attention, "All you have to do is act like you're in love with him." Lucas opened his mouth to protest but Jan quickly held up her hand for silence, "And not just in love; you have to act over-the-top obsessed with him. I can give you a lot of pointers on that."

"And how the hell does that work?" Sami interjected sharply, "If Brady thinks that Lucas returns his feelings, won't that just make him happy?"

"No, Sami, you must not have been listening." Jan addressed her as if she was a child, "If Lucas goes completely overboard, it will not only turn Brady off but it will scare him as well. Chances are, after Lucas gets through with him, Brady will want to stay as far away from Lucas as possible."

"And thank God for that." Lucas muttered.

Shawn rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully, "That's actually a pretty good plan. I can see it working." he gave Jan a quick look of admiration, "How can you be so smart and still come off as a psychotic bimbo for so much of the time?"

Jan blushed, "It's all part of the plan. I like to take people by surprise. So, Lucas," Jan returned to the main topic, "Are you ready to go scare the shit out of Brady?"

Lucas still didn't looked totally convinced, "I won't have to kiss him or anything, will I?"

"Of course not." Jan assured him, "Just make yourself sound like an obsessed stalker. That should be good enough."

"But what if it has the opposite effect?" Sami jumped in, "What if Brady is so glad that Lucas 'feels the same way' that he throws himself at Lucas and starts doing things to him?"

Jan looked stumped for a moment, then smiled confidently, "If all else fails, which it won't, Lucas can 'confess' to Brady that he can never be with him because he has been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. If an STD doesn't turn Brady off, I don't know what will." Jan rocked on the balls of her feet excitedly, "I think Brady is still beating the crap out of some defenseless, unconscious guy. Go get him, Lucas."

"All right." Lucas sighed reluctantly and got off the couch, "He left the apartment and after beginning to walk down the hallway, he realized that Sami, Shawn and Jan were all following him. He stopped walking and gave them a questioning glance.

"Don't you have anything better to do than follow me?" he asked, not wanting to put on a show for all of them. Jan shook her head and smirked at him.

"See, that's one of the perks of this plan." Jan told him, "We get to hide and watch you pretend to be a gay stalker. It will definitely make my day and I'm sure Shawn and Sami agree."

Shawn nodded eagerly and even Sami admitted that it would be kind of funny to watch. Lucas shook his head in disbelief at the three of them but continued down the hall. He went out into the parking lot and quickly found Brady near Brandon, who was still unconscious. Brady grinned when he saw Lucas and hurried over to him. Sami, Shawn and Jan had already ducked behind a car so Brady couldn't see them.

"I finished beating him up." Brady informed Lucas; "I beat him up _real _good. Can I have a reward now?"

"Sure, you can." Lucas replied, doing his best to sound enthusiastic, "But first, there's some things I need to tell you."

"Okay." Brady waited expectantly for Lucas to speak again.

"I- I'm in love with you." Lucas managed to say in a strangled voice. Jan winced, wishing Lucas sounded more emphatic. Maybe this would get easier for Lucas as he went along. Brady started at Lucas' words and stared at him in shock.

"Really?" Brady checked, sure he had heard Lucas wrong.

"Really. Lucas' voice sounded more neutral now, "I've been in love with you for the longest time. But I've been so afraid, because my feelings have been so intense but I can fight you anymore. I want to be with you forever and never let you go."

_He definitely didn't need any lessons from me, _Jan thought to herself, _He's doing a great job with this. He sounds like a total idiot. _Shawn was snickering into his hand and Sami was shaking with silent laughter.

"Oh, God. This is so unexpected." Brady stammered, looking around the parking lot nervously, "But not totally unwanted either."

"It better not be." Lucas had lowered his voice so it actually sounded slightly wild, "I can't stand the idea of you not wanting me. You're everything to me, Brady, and I have to have you at all costs."

"Um..." Brady stepped back, eyeing Lucas warily.

"_Don't run from me!_" Lucas roared, filling the space between himself and Brady again, "You know you want this as badly as I do. If you back down now, I won't be able to take it. We're going to be together forever. We're soul mates and nothing can keep us apart." Lucas grinned maniacally at Brady, "I have so many plans for our future."

"Like what?" Brady inquired, clearly unsure of how to deal with this drastic change in Lucas.

"For starters, we're going to get married."

"M-m-married?" Brady stuttered in disbelief, his topaz coloured eyes wide.

"That's right, married." Lucas confirmed, "Now, I know gay marriages aren't legal in Salem, so we're going to elope. Just you, me, and our little baby are all running away from Salem to get married in a place where we'll finally be accepted." Lucas wiped away an imaginary tear, "I know you'll look beautiful in a wedding dress."

Brady looked utterly shell-shocked, "What about Sami?" he croaked.

Lucas pretended not to understand the meaning behind Brady's words, "Don't worry about Sami. She's not going to come between us. I'd rather die than lose you."

"Uh... I'm not really pregnant though." Brady's eyes flickered around the parking lot, frantically searching for an escape, "Nicole made that up, remember?"

"No, it isn't true." Lucas stated flatly, "You _are _pregnant, I know you are. You are having my child and I don't know why you're trying to write off such a wonderful thing as fake."

"Lucas, what are you talking about? Nicole was lying about the whole thing. She told my dad that-"

"Nicole." Lucas spat out the word in a caustic voice, "That's what this is about, isn't it? She's trying to tear us apart. That stupid bitch. I won't let her get away with it."

"Lucas what are you-" Brady started but was cut off again.

"I'll kill her." Lucas said fiercely, startling Brady into silence, "She can't destroy what we have. I'll do anything to keep you in my life and nothing will ever come between us."

"Are you okay?" Brady asked, worried, "Have you been taking drugs or something?"

"I have invested too much in being with you to give up now." Lucas went on, ignoring Brady's question, "Every night I spent watching you sleep, every day I spent following you, it's too much. I can't let you go."

"That is enough." Brady said firmly, despite the fact that his hands were shaking with fear, "There is nothing between us, okay? I thought you were normal but obviously you were far from it. You're completely insane and I'm never going to marry you or do anything else with you. Just leave me alone." as soon as he finished speaking, Brady rushed by Lucas, muttering under his breath.

"I'll never let you go." Lucas called after him, "You'll be sorry." As soon as Brady was gone, Lucas chuckled to himself. Sami, Shawn and Jan got to their feet and went over to Lucas.

"Congratulations." Jan patted Lucas on the back, "I couldn't have done it better myself. You did an excellent job of pulling that off."

"I thought so." Lucas grimaced, "Although a lot of that was hard to say. I don't know how I got through that without laughing."

"So, now all we have to do is get Brady and Nicole together." Jan said, suddenly turning serious, "I heard Brady mention something about going to the Brady Pub when he walked by us. All I have to do is get Nicole over there and hope for the best." Jan whipped out her cell phone and began dialing quickly, preparing to send Nicole right into Brady's arms.

* * *

Mimi looked up to see Brady enter the restaurant and called him over. As he neared the table she was sharing with Rex, Mimi realized that Brady looked very upset. He sat down next to Mimi and mumbled a quick hello, still looking distracted.

"What happened to you?" Mimi asked softly. Brady groaned and banged his head against the table.

"I don't know. Lucas just turned out to be the biggest weirdo in all of Salem, and that's definitely saying something. Then I was walking over here and I realized that my crush on him was completely ridiculous before it was like a complete obsession and now I realize that what I felt for him is nothing compared to what I feel for Nicole. I just kept thinking of how I felt about Nicole and how she looks at me, then I thought about Lucas and Sami and how much they seemed to care about each other and I realized that I had totally screwed up because now Nicole thinks she's my second choice when I just figured out that she was _never _my second choice." Brady took a deep breath after finishing.

"Wow." Rex deadpanned, "That's really deep."

Brady banged his head against the table even harder, "This isn't funny. It's a real crisis, Rex. I think I love Nicole but I just now realized it because Lucas threatened to kill her but I won't let him-"

"Brady, there's no need to talk so fast." Mimi intervened gently, "We're not going anywhere."

"Speak for yourself. This guy is like a soap opera." Rex spoke up.

"I just don't know how I'm going to make Nicole see how much I care about her. I think it might already be too late because I've screwed up much." Brady spoke slower, rubbing his now throbbing forehead.

"It looks like you'll have your chance now." Mimi commented, "She just came in."

Before Brady could turn around to look at her, Rex leaned in to whisper something to Brady, "Sing to her?"

"Huh?"

"Sing to her." Rex repeated impatiently, "Girls love it when you do that for them. It helped me get things back on track with Mimi before. Just start singing to her right in the middle of the restaurant, she'll totally go for it."

Brady looked around to see if there was anyone else in the pub he knew besides Rex, Mimi and Nicole. When he didn't see anyone else, he decided it couldn't hurt anything to start singing to her. And it did sound like it might work, even if it embarrassed the hell out of him. Nicole came over to their table to sit down between Brady and Rex, saying hello to Mimi and Rex but purposely ignoring Brady.

"What are you doing here?" Mimi asked Nicole, looking at Brady questioningly.

"I was supposed to be meeting Jan here." Nicole answered, looking around the pub, "But she isn't here yet."

"Hi, Nicole." Brady spoke up. Nicole gave him a blank look, then turned back to Mimi. Brady winced at the coldness he could almost feel emanating from Nicole but tried again. He touched her arm and turned her around gently with his free hand.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Brady said, "I'm sorry for everything. I was wrong of me to mess up your publicity campaign and the whole thing with Lucas... I apologize for that too. I shouldn't have even tried to make you mad, even if you were doing the same thing to me with Jan. But can you please forgive me? I can't stand you being so angry at me." Brady pleaded with her, not caring that he was losing all of his pride.

Nicole softened the tiniest bit, "I'll think about it." was all she said before turning back to Mimi. But before Mimi or Nicole could speak, Brady broke in once more.

"L," Brady drawled in a wobbly, off-key voice. Mimi, Rex and Nicole are turned to stare at him.

"What are you doing?" Nicole asked.

"Is for the way you look at me." Brady sang, smiling broadly at Nicole, "O is for the only one I see."

"Aw, Nicole, I think you're being serenaded." Mimi said, beaming at Brady, who continued to sing, ignoring everyone in the pub who was staring at him.

"Is that what's going on?" Nicole raised an eyebrow and hid a huge smile behind her hand. Brady was rocking back and forth in his chair slightly and was bobbing his head in time to the words. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around Nicole so she was swaying with him.

"V is very, very extraordinary and E is," Brady frowned and hummed the rest of the line, obviously forgetting what E stood for, "And love is all that I can give to you. Love is more than just a game for two. Two in love can make it, take my heart but please don't break it, love was made for me and you."

Nicole was smiling openly now and turned to grin at Brady, "I think I get it."

Brady gave Nicole his most charming smile, "Have I won you over yet?"

"You won me over a long time ago." Nicole murmured, giving him a fleeting kiss on the lips. Before Nicole could pull away from the brief kiss, Brady tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss while everyone in the pub applauded. Brady could hear the hushes whispers about Lyric Wilson and her fiancé as he continued to kiss Nicole. He smiled inwardly, _Well that was a lot easier than I thought it would be._

They broke the kiss and Nicole looked up him with mild uncertainty, "What about Lucas?" she asked in a small voice. Brady just smiled again and traced her lower lip with his thumb.

"Lucas who?" was his only response before leaning over to kiss her again.


	32. Presents And Engagements

Chapter Thirty-Two

**Author's Note: Yes, it is finished! Finally! It wasn't supposed to go on for that long but I swear, I had the hardest time getting all of them, especially Jan and Brady, to shut up. Anyways, I know this story got a little crazy but please review anyway. You know you want to :D Oh, and the last chapter is NC-17 but come on, I'm celebrating here!**  
  
Sami heard the door to her apartment open and left her place on the couch to go greet Lucas. His dark eyes twinkled mischievously and both hands were behind his back, "Sorry for being late. I would have been here sooner, but I was getting you something." he told her and Sami felt her mouth go dry at his words. The impatient part of her hoped whatever he had gotten her was packaged in a small jewelry case, one that contained a certain kind of ring inside. She smiled expectantly.   
  
"Well, are you going to show me what it is?" Sami asked eagerly, trying to not to let her smile fade when Lucas brought out a box about twenty times bigger than what she had been expecting. Sami took the box from him and played with the ribbon that was wrapped around the medium sized box.   
  
"What is it?" she asked, then nearly jumped out of her skin, "Oh my God! Something moved!"   
  
Lucas reached out to steady the box, "Don't drop it!" once Sami had regained her hold on the box, he let go, "And you kind of have to open it to find out what's in it. Don't worry, it's not a snake or anything. Or is it?" Lucas shot Sami a look of amusement as she continued to eye the box warily.   
  
"I'm a little worried now" Sami told him, "What are you up to, Lucas?"   
  
"Come on, just open the box." Lucas urged her and Sami finally began untying the bow reluctantly. After letting the ribbon fall to the ground, she tugged open the box and gasped when she what was inside.   
  
"You didn't." Sami's eyes were wide as she looked down at the pair of baby blue eyes staring back at her from inside the box. She picked up the tiny kitten and cradled it in her eyes, still staring at Lucas in shock. He looked back at her anxiously.   
  
"Do you like it?" he asked, his voice cracking nervously. Sami looked up at him with a mixture of confusion and happiness.   
  
"I wasn't expecting this but... the kitten is adorable. I love it but I don't really understand. We're not even supposed to have animals in our apartment." Sami stammered, unsure of how to react to this. No one had even given her a pet as a gift before and she had no idea what Lucas had been thinking. But she realized that this gift was not unwanted. The kitten really _was_ adorable, with a soft golden coat and incredibly round, bright blue eyes.

Lucas waved his hand dissmissively, "Don't worry about it. We're not going to be living here much longer anyway. They'll never know." he promised. He reached out on hand to pet the cat, who began purring and arching it's back into Lucas' hand, "Yeah, um, this one really seemed to like me when Jan I went to the pet shop to find one."

"Jan?" Sami repeated. Lucas nodded and grinned sheepishly.

"She was the one who told me to get you the cat. I wasn't sure about it first but then I saw this one and it kind of reminded me of you. Because of it's eyes and everything." he added, reaching out to stroke her cheek while he continued to pet the cat with his other hand. The cat mewed slightly and squirmed in Sami's arms. One paw reached up to bat Lucas in the chin and Sami laughed.

"I guess I've found a name for this kitten." Sami smirked at Lucas, "I think I'll him Brady because he can't seem seem to keep his paws off you."

Lucas grimaced and shook his head, "You don't want to do that, Sami. Brady doesn't like me anymore, I scared him away. Besides, it's a girl."

Sami shrugged, "All the more reason to call in Brady. I don't think the real Brady has any balls either."

"You're terrible." Lucas said, but he was smiling too. He watched Sami pet the tiny kitten, which began purring even louder and nuzzling against Sami's stomach. Sami had a look of pure contentment on her face as she petted the newest addition to their family and Lucas couldn't seem to stop himself from admiring her. He just hoped she would be this receptive to the other gift he had ready for her.

"And you're wonderful." Sami mumured, drawing her attention away from the cat to look up at Lucas affectionately, "Sometimes, I think you're _too _good to me."

So she wouldn't squish the cat, she gently set Brady down on the floor and closed the small gap between herself and Lucas. She fingernails scraped lightly against the expanse of his back as she raised her head to kiss him. Lucas felt her lips part against his mouth and he eased his tongue between the silky, moist lips, tasting the infinite sweetness that was Sami. The lazy, undemanding pace of the kiss picked up speed, Sami's nails digging harder into her bed as Lucas' back and she applied more pressure to the warm softness of Lucas' mouth, her tongue stroking his tongue inside of her mouth. Brady paced back and forth on the floor restlessly, brushing against Lucas and Sami' legs while Sami caressed Lucas suggestively through the denim of his jeans. He bit down on her lip gently to stop himself from groaning and with some struggle, he broke their contact.

"Maybe it's because you're so good to me." his voice sounded huskily in her ear before his tongue darted out to run along the shell of her ear. She interlaced fingers with him and pressed herself as close to him as physically possible, soft curves meeting the hard angles of Lucas' chest. They didn't even need to speak, instead they both made their way over to Sami's bedroom, hand in hand. Once both of them had made it to her bed, Sami began undoing the buttons of his shirt with teasing slowness, her kisses hungry and openmouthed along each part of bonzed, newly uncovered skin. After completely unbuttoning the shirt, she quickened her piece, clawing the shirt off of him and her hands exploring hot flesh and rippling muscles.

"Wait." Lucas stopped her, clasping one of her hands in his own, "I have something else to give you first." he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out the one thing Sami wanted to see more than anything. A dark, velvet jewellery box. Sami felt tears of happiness spring to her eyes and watched Lucas open the jewelery box to reveal a large, sparkling diamond ring. He looked up at her, his own eyes taking on a liquid gleam.

"I've had this for a while." he managed to say, his voice raspy, "I wanted to give this to you at the perfect moment but I didn't want to wait any longer-"

Sami brushed against his lips with her fingertips, "It _is _perfect, Lucas. _You _make it pefect.

He smiled a smile that lit up his entire face, "Thank you. Sami Brady, will you marry me?" he asked.

"Of course." Sami whispered, letting Lucas slip the ring on her finger, "I love you so much, Lucas."

"And I love you." he returned softly, fastening his mouth to hers again, capturing the moment without any more words because they weren't needed. Hot, restless fingers explored each other thoroughly and bodies entwined passionately.

The sheets rustled underneath them as Sami went on to strip Lucas of his jeans and boxers. The clothes fell to a crumpled heap next to his shirt and suddenly, Lucas rolled over so that he was straddling Sami, yet didn't break the union of their mouths. In a matter of minutes, he had Sami unbuttoned, unzipped and writhing underneath him. His shaft slipped between her open thighs and she moaned loudly, tugging desperately at his hair. He moved himself in and out and the moist apex between her thighs, teasing but never entering her. Suddenly, Sami stopped moving, taking long gasping mouthfuls of air to level out her breathing and her head touched his chest, stilling his movements.

"I can't do it." Sami told him once she caught her breath. Lucas looked down at her with concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." she smiled self-deprecatingly, "It's just... the cat. Brady is watching us and I can't do it with her here." Lucas turned around and noticed that Brady the cat was really sitting near the door to the bedroom, watching them with a curious look on her face. Lucas groaned and turned back to Sami.

"It's a cat, Sami. It's no big deal." Lucas told her.

"Yes, it is." Sami buried her head in his chest and her voice came out in muffled murmurs, "Make her go away. She's making me uncomfortable." _Thank God she never found out about Jan, _Lucas thought to himself, _If this is what she does when a cat is watching us, I'd hate to think about what she would do if knew that a person has watched us before._

"Go away, Brady." Lucas said useslessly, sighing with frustration when the cat didn't move. He got off the bed and walked over to pick up the cat. It mewed with protest when he picked it up but he ignored it and walked out of the bedroom. Lucas wondered if he should just leave the cat in the bathroom, since he had yet to set up the litter box and other random items he had gotten for the cat at the pet store. While he debated this, Jan crashed through the door to his apartment without knocking, followed by Shawn, Nicole and Brady. Shawn immediately turned around after seeing Lucas.

"Why am I having a serious case of deje veiw here?" Shawn asked while Jan eyed Lucas' still very erect member. Nicole squealed indignantly and covered Brady's eyes before he could see anything.

"What are you doing, Lucas?" Nicole demanded, "I just got Brady to decide to join the good team again but if you run around like that with Brady around, you're going to bring him back over to the dark side."

"I'm sorry." Lucas shot back, setting the cat down on the floor, "I was just thinking about locking Brady in the bathroom-" Nicole gasped and glared at Lucas, who quickly decided to correct himself, "No, no, _this _Brady."

"Why did you name him Brady?" Jan asked, "If you wanted to name her after one of us, you should have named him after me. I helped you find her, after all."

"Her?" Brady asked, his eyes still covered, "You named a female cat after me?"

"I didn't, Sami did." Lucas shot back, then continued, "What I was saying was, I was going to lock her in the bathroom and then you came in here and screwed everything up. You should have knocked! Not that we would have answered but still..."

"We only need to talk to you for a minute." Nicole replied defensively, "We came over to tell you that my agent just called. Since my divorce with Victor is now final and since Brady and I are together now, they want Brady and me to do an extended publicity campaign over the summer since the first one kind of got fucked up."

"Really?" Lucas smiled at Nicole, "Congratulations."

"I'm not finished." Nicole informed him, "And not only do they want you and Sami to join us. They think having all four of us there would increase the publicity goodness and what-not. And of course Jan and Shawn would be there because we can't get rid of them. So, what do you say?"

Brady gasped, "Nicole, you didn't tell me you wanted Lucas to come. Don't do it! He's an insane stalker and he'll kill you."

Nicole looked at Brady in confusion, "No, he won't. Lucas and I are friends, he wouldn't kill me. Where'd you get that idea?"

"Friends?" Shawn repeated in amazement, "I never expected to hear you use the name Lucas and friend in the same sentence. That's incredible."

Lucas couldn't help but agree with Shawn. He had never thought he would ever call Jan or Nicole his friends either. But somewhere along the long, he Nicole, Sami and Jan had all become close and there was no way he could write Jan or Nicole off as anything less than friends anymore.

"Me and Sami will talk about it." Lucas told Nicole, "But right now, we're a little busy." he raised his eyebrows, hoping they got the point.

"Fine, we'll leave. But can I take the kitty for a walk?" Jan asked, "It would be mean to lock her in the bathroom."

"You don't _walk _cats, Jan." Shawn reminded her.

"Well _I _do." Jan responded haughtily, pulling the cat out of Lucas' hands before he could answer her. Jan, Shawn, Nicole and Brady all left the apartment, with Brady the cat in tow and Lucas returned to Sami's bedroom. She grinned up at him as he lowered himself back onto the bed.

"What happened to you?" she asked, pressing her head against Lucas' already sweat dampened chest. His fingers traced a path up her ribcage and brushed against an erect nipple.

"We had some company." he replied, "But I got rid of them."

"Good." Sami responded before their lips came together again. Lucas flipped Sami over and pressed the head of his engorged penis into Sami's sheath, circling the aroused bud of her clitoris. Sami moaned and showed her displeasure at his teasing by raising her hips until his hard cock was lodged inside her fully. Both of them lost control at that moment, undulating against each other roughly, flesh slapping together and loud moans extracted from both Lucas and Sami. As both of them climbed higher towards their release, both of them felt the most intense source of completion that they had ever felt in their entire lives.


End file.
